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Two thirds of the market derives from government demand

Paris, September 6, 2010 – Euroconsult, the leading international research and analyst firm specializing in the satellite sector, forecast today that an estimated 1,220 satellites will be built for launch over the next decade.

The average of 122 satellites to be launched per year is up significantly from the annual average of 77 satellites launched in the previous decade, a sign that government and commercial operators require more satellite capabilities. In Euroconsult’s just-released “Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2019, World Market Survey,” the company projects that revenues from the manufacturing and launch of these 1,220 satellites will reach $194 billion worldwide for the decade.

The report concludes that governments around the world will continue to dominate the space market, accounting for two thirds of the total number of spacecraft launched and the same amount of launch and manufacturing revenues.

“Governments realize that satellite systems are a critical part of their country’s infrastructure and contribute to socio-economic development by providing communications and geo-information solutions to many government agencies,” said Rachel Villain, Director for Space for Euroconsult and editor of the report.

Civilian and military government agencies in 50 countries will launch a total of 808 satellites in the next decade, with two-thirds of these satellites designated for civil or dual use. The military space market remains concentrated in a limited number of countries (USA, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and Israel).

Despite the fact that defense and security agencies prefer proprietary military satellite systems for communications, imagery intelligence, and space surveillance, budget constraints will encourage alternative solutions such as public-private partnerships (PPP) and government payloads hosted on commercial satellites, the report predicts.

In non-military areas, governments are expected to procure satellites for operational missions in Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, and communications. The Euroconsult report says that governments will also develop more missions for space science and exploration, as well as launch technology demonstration missions to qualify future satellite technology and validate new applications like automated identification systems (AIS). Earth observation is expected to be the dominant application with a total of 267 satellites projected over the next decade as more governments order and launch satellites through national space agencies, multilateral agencies and public-private partnerships for both civilian and military uses of satellite optical and radar imagery.

At $128 billion over the decade, the government market is double the commercial market but it is largely closed to non-domestic manufacturers. Most of that market is for satellites destined for low Earth orbits (46%) with higher altitude orbits (GTO, MEO, HEO and deep space) making up the difference.

Commercial space is dominated by 50 companies operating communications and broadcast satellites in geostationary orbit. The two largest companies, Intelsat and SES, have a fleet of over 40 satellites each. The commercial space market is driven primarily by established operators’ investment cycles as they replace aging capacity in-orbit, and to a lesser degree by new systems promoted by new commercial companies and governments. Because technology advances allow construction of GEO satellites of ever increasing capacity, operators can expand satellite services with fewer satellites. These advanced satellites are heavier, which also drives the size and performance of launch vehicles.

Euroconsult forecasts 214 commercial communications satellites will be launched into the GEO arc during 2010-2019, with a market value of $55 billion. The peak of the cycle will occur early in the decade, with 25 units to be launched per year, declining to fewer than 20 units per year at the end of the period.

Commercial satellite services outside the geostationary orbit will get a boost with a total of 200 satellites to be built and launched into medium and low Earth orbits (MEO and LEO) during the period. Most of them (80%) will be communications satellites to replace the first LEO generation operated by Iridium, Globalstar and Orbcomm and to create the first generation constellation of O3b, an innovative system to be launched into MEO. Additionally almost 40 satellites will be launched into low Earth orbit for commercial optical and radar imagery (e.g. Infoterra, GeoEye).

According to Euroconsult the $11 billion in revenues generated by the manufacturing and launch of these satellites will remain small compared to GEO comsat.

Report Profile
13th edition of Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2019, World Market Survey is the landmark study for all industry actors concerned with satellite systems and their launches. The report provides all information key to understanding the global space market, present and future.

The report includes exclusive 10-year forecasts including breakdown by customer and by orbit, number & mass of satellites to be manufactured and launched and market value.

The report offers a review of strategic issues from both supply (industry) and demand (customers) perspectives and a performance analysis for eight leading suppliers. It also includes a comprehensive and detailed demand database for commercial and government satellites including: application, launch date, satellite platform, manufacturer, launch provider.

About Euroconsult
Euroconsult is the leading international research and analyst firm specialized in satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting. Euroconsult develops comprehensive research reports and forecasts; provides strategic consulting and analysis; produces world summits; and offers customized training. With 25 years of experience and more than 350 satelliterelated consulting assignments, Euroconsult is a worldwide reference. Euroconsult has over 560 clients in 50 countries, including leaders throughout the satellite value chain: satellite operators and service providers; satellite manufacturers and launch service providers; equipment providers and integrators; space institutions; media and broadcasting companies; and banks and investors. For more information visit: www.euroconsult-ec.com

Monday, 29 November 2010. IET London: Savoy Place

This action packed seminar is your chance to discover what’s happening at the ‘EO Hub’, network with the industry’s leading manufacturers, developers and researchers and meet the spectrum of EO end-users.The event will feature invited world-class experts in EO technologies as well as industry regulators, manufacturers of EO technologies and industry analysts.

Speakers include

•Martin Ditter, Head of the ESA Harwell Centre, ESA
•Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Head of Business Development, CEO Office, Science and Technology Facility Council (STFC)
•Professor Alan O’Neill, Director, National Centre for Earth Observation
•Wing Commander Gordon MacLeod, JARIC
•Dr David Williams, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency
•David Purll, Head of Optical Systems, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)

Call for Posters – your chance to take part

If you have new research and results within EO technology, share them with the wider community by submitting a poster. We welcome contributions until 29 October.

Registration discounts available for EARSC members! As a supporter of the event, EARSC members are entitled to register at the IET Member rate – saving you £80 per place. 3 for 2 group rates are also available

To join key names in Earth Observation technology, register online at www.theiet.org/eo-satellites or call us on 0845 644 3830 for more information.

More information IET Seminar

Hundreds of geo capability specialists, C4ISR and architect commanders will be gathering at Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011, January 24-27th in London to discuss how GEOINT is affecting and impacting every aspect of the worlds armed forces.

“Embedding geo capabilities into every command and control system will increase the requirement for accurate, fully attributed data as well as up-to-data imagery. Data management will become the key to success and the demand for Geo Technician will increase (and has increased) as systems come on-line. Data available could become the key factor in conducting operations.”

Lt. Col. Michael Cairns, Commanding Officer Mapping & Charting Establishment, Commandant School of Military, National Defence, Canada

Hundreds of geo capability specialists, C4ISR and architect commanders will be gathering at Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011, January 24-27th in London to discuss how GEOINT is affecting and impacting every aspect of the worlds armed forces. Geo capabilities are quickly becoming part of every day operations in all sections of a defence organisation. Armies are moving from having a small team of geo specialists to having every soldier, every staff officer and every civilian in the HQ use geo capabilities as a basis for decision-making.

“ It is important to understand that, for us, it’s not technology that will make a difference now. It’s how we use the technology within defence. It’s how we make sure that we get information to people; it’s how we make sure that all information is specially referenced in some way so we can use it in GIS. A whole range of images and data needs to be referenced in some way to be used effectively.”

Colonel John Kedar, Former Commander, JAGO, UK MOD

The question of effective delivery of imagery and analysis tools to the operator in-theatre remains key to every defence organisation. Every event happens in space and time. Accurate and timely imagery needs to not only arrive at the right destination on time, but to be used in concert with the available analysis and decision-making tools. Dozens of presentations at Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011 will be focusing on the latest use of GIS software, imagery and imagery analysis tools in war, in national security operations and in strategic planning. Although most defence and national security organisations are drowning in too much available imagery, it is the photographs, the images and the satellite views, that will give them the all important perspective and data to help make those life-death decisions.

As GEOINT becomes the starting point and the operating basis of every battle, command and control is quickly embracing the latest geo strategies. Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chief of Joint Operations at the UK MOD will be opening the conference to speak about his vision for geo capabilities in modern warfare, in command and control and in-theatre. Air Marshal Peach is responsible for the planning and execution of all UK military operations. He will be giving insight into the strategic role of geo capabilities in defence intelligence collection and analysis, as well as showing examples of effective use of GEOINT.

The morning opening session of Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011 will feature a guest keynote address from Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey. Given the key role Ordnance Survey in the London 2012 Olympic Games, Vanessa Lawrence is an ideal source of information, strategies, plans and new ideas for using geographic information systems and geospatial intelligence in the national security operations in the UK.

One of the biggest aspects of this year’s Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011 conference is human terrain analysis. Knowing everything about the landscape is vital. Knowing everything about the people who live in the landscape turns out to be even more important. Winning battles doesn’t win wars any more. The enemy has become very sophisticated and is probably also using the latest and most sophisticated war equipment, tools and data. The Allied Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and many other in-theatre operations are working hard on winning the hearts and minds of the locals, as that seems to be the most effective and pain-free way of winning a war these days. The HTA focus day on January 27th will share the latest experiences, strategies and success stories of using the “people knowledge” in-theatre. Senior commanders and strategists from UK, US and other countries will debate the best ways of collecting, managing, analysing and disseminating the human terrain data.

The Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) 2011 team has recently interviewed a number of senior military staff to find out what they see as most important and challenging in the GEOINT community. Below are some of the answers to just one question.

To find out more and to read full interviews visit the DGI 2011 website: www.defencegeospatial.com

QUESTION:
If you had a magic wand and could change only one thing in the way GEOINT world operates, what would you do?

ANSWERS:

Michael W. Powers, Technical Director, Geospatial Research and Engineering, US ARMY

“I would place more emphasis on the expanded collection of cartographic features, physical and human environments and the methods to ensure topologically “clean” data.”

Steve Pyatt, Director, GEOINT Policy and Plans, New Zealand MoD

“Multi-level security and connectivity i.e. the ability to have a master geodatabase which holds data at the lowest appropriate classification level and then serve data and products upwards into the higher domains to save replicating and even re-creating everything for each level.”

Col. (ret) Neil Thompson, Managing Director, WC Group, Canada

“The Geospatial Intelligence community is slowly moving towards a more “joined up” Geospatial Intelligence enterprise approach. If we can accelerate the pace of using all types of imagery and data (space based, all types of air breathing, handheld, crowd sourcing and other open source Geospatial Intelligence) we can provide world class geospatial intelligence products to the entire customer base. By leveraging the incredible capabilities of both the geospatial and imagery analysts, we can enable them to work more effectively in this new “dynamic geospatial intelligence environment”. The incredible advancement in software applications coupled with the increased demand for rapid generation of geospatial products have allowed or even pushed us to move toward a dynamic geospatial intelligence enterprise solution.”

Lt. Col. Michael Cairns, Commanding Officer Mapping & Charting Establishment, Commandant School of Military, National Defence, Canada

“I would increase bandwidth and storage capacity so that data could be seamlessly shared and distributed.”

Col Mark Burrows, Head of JAGO, UK MOD

“Being somewhat greedy I would be after 2 changes: – The first would be to improve interoperability, storage and access and this includes the management of data – and more human beings are needed for this. – Second, based on COIN and current ‘ops amongst the people, I would like to resource the lowest Tactical level (companies and platoons) with GIS sensors, so as to empower BG Comds & maximise ground truth.This would support low level tactical decision making whilst giving a recognised picture up the chain, thus garnering support as required (this assuming the networked ability to share Information with higher HQs/neighbouring units formations). It is at the Lowest Tactical level that people are influenced for the good or the bad of the overall campaign. Part of our problem is that we have been slow to acknowledge AFG is a COIN campaign and our resourcing is still stuck in a conventional mindset with control of assets and decision action cycle set too high.”

Captain Kjetil Utne, Director, Norwegian Military Geographic Service

“A common service oriented network solution, where information and services might be published and made available across all domains, would certainly be appreciated. However, there are many factors, related to releasability, intellectual property rights, costs etc. that the wand then will have to cut through…”

Colonel John Fitzgerald, Senior Staff Officer Intelligence Policy, (Geospatial/ Imagery/ JISR), International Military Staff, HQ NATO

“Whilst continuing to demand excellence in the geospatial and imagery sciences, and providing robust services for C2 and other functions, I would focus on requirements, processes and support to customers, especially through better engaging intelligence collection management.”

Lt. Col. Babis Paraschou, Chief Geospatial Officer, European Union Force

“I would like to change the way that high-rank military decision makers think of geoint; Geoint products need special equipment and special trained people. Sometimes the answer to a simple question of “what will happen if we open or destroy a port?” needs a very specialised person, often more than a usual well-trained Geoint person. I ‘d like every brigadier general and above to be trained by magic in the complex theory of Geoint, intelligence and technical-scientific work.”

Gp Capt Harry Kemsley RAF, Dep Hd DPD, Cap Sponsor ISTAR, UK MOD

“Adherence to agreed standards.”

Brig. General (ret) Amnon Sofrin, Head of The Intelligence Directorate, Israeli Intelligence Service (ISIS)

“If I could change one thing, I would like to make it possible that the relevant Geo – Information could be given to the Junior Commanders in the battlefield (Platoon Leaders) , in order to reduce the ambiguity and the uncertainty in this Area of Operations.”

Brig. Gen. Schmidt-Bleker, Director, Bundeswehr Geoinformation Office (BGIO), Germany

“I wish we had a much broader approach throughout NATO than just the stove-piped support to one customer such as the intelligence community.”

For more information:
Visit www.DefenceGeospatial.com
Email dgi@wbr.co.uk
Call +44 (0) 207 368 9465
To find out more and to read full interviews visit the DGI 2011 website: www.defencegeospatial.com

The British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC) is a highly proactive organisation that represents the interests of commercial organisations involved in remote sensing. Formed in 1985, BARSC has an impressive track record of serving the interests of major companies, small and medium enterprises and independent consultants. The Executive Committee of BARSC works tirelessly to create an informative and valuable calendar of events for the members and these are always well attended.

Once a specialist application, remote sensing technology has grown in use throughout a wide range of industries. This growth means that the presentations, representation and consulting work that BARSC conducts on behalf of its members has become even more important. The Executive Committee of the Association recognised that communication between themselves, members, prospective members and third party remote sensing organisations will be vital if BARSC is to meet the challenges of the coming years.

BARSC has contracted specialist geo-Sales & Marketing agency; Quarry One Eleven to ensure that this crucial communication work is carried out. Quarry One Eleven will be tasked with improving all aspects of marketing communication for BARSC including online, direct and media channels.

Talking about the coming year, Chairman of the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies, David Hodgson said “Communicating the vital role and value of commercial remote sensing and the interests of our members is what BARSC is all about. It is important for us to work with an organisation such as Quarry One Eleven that has a deep understanding of our industry and the opportunities and challenges we face.”

Alistair Maclenan, Managing Director of Quarry One Eleven commented on the partnership; “Quarry One Eleven was (and continues to be) a member of BARSC before we started working for them. I was hugely impressed with what the organisation was doing and really wanted to help where we could. Our role is to be an effective communications link between their members and those who should be members. It is so refreshing to work with an organisation that understands communication is a key component of any successful organisation.”

LizardTech®, a division of Celartem Inc. and a provider of software solutions for managing and distributing geospatial content, announced the integration of its MrSID® Generation 4 Decode SDK (MG4 DSDK) into Overwatch’s LIDAR Analyst® software application.

LIDAR Analyst is produced by Overwatch, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, and leading provider of imagery and geospatial solutions to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Communities. LIDAR Analyst is a plug-in for ArcGIS and ERDAS IMAGINE that provides tools for automatically extracting bare earth terrain, 3D buildings, trees/forests, contour lines, and terrain characteristics. In addition, it provides a rich set of data conversion tools, terrain editing tools, and 3D vector editing tools. The software is the premiere 3D feature extraction solution for airborne LiDAR data that supports Homeland Security, Defense and Intelligence, Forestry and other user communities requiring high-resolution terrain information. With the release of version 5.0, LIDAR Analyst customers will have the ability to efficiently process LIDAR data that has been compressed using LizardTech’s LiDAR Compressor™ software.

“The MrSID format is best in class for raster imagery compression and we are quite pleased with LizardTech’s specific innovations in point cloud compression,” said Matt Morris, LIDAR Analyst product manager.

“Our customers within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community have frequently requested support for MG4 in LIDAR Analyst,” said Jon Skiffington, LizardTech’s director of marketing. “We’re pleased that this integration will provide them with the ability to efficiently compress their LiDAR files and utilize them in one of their most commonly used applications.”

Already, with its first image acquisitions, TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) has surpassed its twin satellite, TerraSAR-X.

On 24 June 2010, only 3 days and 14 hours into the mission, the satellite sent its first image data back to Earth. The transmission was received by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fŸr Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) ground station at Neustrelitz and processed to produce images. TanDEM-X looked down from an altitude of more than 500 kilometres above northern Madagascar, Ukraine and Moscow.

Even the ups and downs of the waves in the Indian Ocean – coloured pale yellow on the image – are charted by TanDEM-X as it flies over at a speed of seven kilometres per second. The change in the waves at the entrance to the Diego Suarez Bay is clearly visible. The water in the bay itself, on the shore of which the provincial capital, Antsiranana, can be recognised, is very flat – in contrast to the undulating ocean – and reflects the radar signals from TanDEM-X more uniformly. The area of valleys to the south drains the volcanic cone of Ambre-Bobaomby into the Indian Ocean. (courtesy: DLR)

Even the ups and downs of the waves in the Indian Ocean – coloured pale yellow on the image – are charted by TanDEM-X as it flies over at a speed of seven kilometres per second. The change in the waves at the entrance to the Diego Suarez Bay is clearly visible. The water in the bay itself, on the shore of which the provincial capital, Antsiranana, can be recognised, is very flat – in contrast to the undulating ocean – and reflects the radar signals from TanDEM-X more uniformly. The area of valleys to the south drains the volcanic cone of Ambre-Bobaomby into the Indian Ocean.

The image of Ukraine shows how a radar satellite perceives fields and forests. The satellite imaged a reservoir near the River Donets, a tributary of the Don. Forests and agricultural land surround the reservoir. These areas are worked differently, and thus exhibit differences in the way they reflect radar signals. This variable surface structure is revealed in the image by different brightness levels and colours. East of the smaller reservoirs near the centre of the image, a moving train is visible as a bright, curved line. From the offset of the train on the tracks, seen from space, it is even possible to calculate its speed. (courtesy: DLR)

The data were received yesterday afternoon at around 16:55 hrs. “We have broken the world record that we set with TerraSAR-X,” says project leader Manfred Zink from DLR’s Microwaves and Radar Institute. At that time, the first reception occurred after four and a half days. For TanDEM-X, the team was ready to download data just three days and fourteen hours after the launch, which took place at 04:14 on 21 June 2010.Eight gigabytes of data reached the Neustrelitz ground station of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (Deutsche Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum). Before this, the flight dynamics team had exactly predicted the route of TanDEM-X and had derived the commands for controlling the attitude of the satellite, which were used by the instrument operations team.

Reservoirs, fields and a moving train in Ukraine

The image of Ukraine shows how a radar satellite perceives fields and forests. The satellite imaged a reservoir near the River Donets, a tributary of the Don. Forests and agricultural land surround the reservoir. These areas are worked differently, and thus exhibit differences in the way they reflect radar signals. This variable surface structure is revealed in the image by different brightness levels and colours. East of the smaller reservoirs near the centre of the image, a moving train is visible as a bright, curved line. From the offset of the train on the tracks, seen from space, it is even possible to calculate its speed.

Moscow from 500 kilometres above

At the centre of the image is Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, about 30 kilometres northwest of the city centre. Terminal One, to the north, was opened on 8 November 1959 and now serves mainly domestic flights. Terminal Two, in the south, was built for the Summer Olympic Games in 1980 by German companies following the design of the terminal at Hanover Airport. Today, it deals with international flights. The two runways are clearly visible. Because the flat concrete surfaces reflect the radar signals away from the satellite, the paved areas are shown as black lines. To the north of Moscow, there are major reservoirs such as the Pirogovskoye Reservoir and the Uchinskoye Reservoir.

At the centre of the image is Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, about 30 kilometres northwest of the city centre. Terminal One, to the north, was opened on 8 November 1959 and now serves mainly domestic flights. Terminal Two, in the south, was built for the Summer Olympic Games in 1980 by German companies following the design of the terminal at Hanover Airport. Today, it deals with international flights. The two runways are clearly visible. Because the flat concrete surfaces reflect the radar signals away from the satellite, the paved areas are shown as black lines. To the north of Moscow, there are major reservoirs such as the Pirogovskoye Reservoir and the Uchinskoye Reservoir. (courtesy: DLR)

Mission milestones

“That’s a neat milestone,” says a satisfied Michael Bartusch, TanDEM-X Project Manager at the DLR Space Agency in Bonn. He accompanied the satellite during transportation to Baikonur; for the launch, he sat in DLR’s German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhofen. “With the image, we have the proof that the radar satellite works without problems.” “But of course, now we have had experience with TerraSAR-X.

With the end of the launch and early orbit phase this weekend, the TanDEM-X team begins the first part of the commissioning phase, during which the satellite is ‘put through its paces’. “It takes about three months to prepare it for operational use,” says Bartusch. By the end of July, the two satellites will be brought within 20 kilometres of one another. In October, is will be another, unique milestone: the satellites will fly in formation with a distance of only some 200 metres separating them as they orbit the Earth. This marks the second part of the commissioning phase, during which the approach and control of both satellites is in focus.

Teamwork by the two satellites

As soon as the satellites begin to record data as a combined ‘pair of eyes’, the ‘complex interactions’ begin, says project leader Michael Bartusch. The design of their orbits prevents the satellites from colliding but they must also be prevented from illuminating one another with their radar signals. “If TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X illuminate one another during formation flight, there is a possibility of damaging the instruments at this short range.” The first official three-dimensional image acquisition by the twin satellites will occur in January 2011. “Then we will begin with measurements of the entire Earth and the generation of the elevation model.”

Public-private partnership

DLR is responsible for the scientific use of TanDEM-X data, the planning and execution of the mission, the control of the two satellites, and the production of the digital elevation model. Astrium built the satellite and is sharing the costs for its development and use. As for TerraSAR-X, Infoterra GmbH, a subsidiary of EADS Astrium, is responsible for the commercial marketing of TanDEM-X data.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is implementing the TanDEM-X mission with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in the form of a public-private partnership with Astrium GmbH.

(source: DLR)

India sent an all-purpose Earth observation satellite into orbit early Monday, replenishing the country’s fleet of mapping spacecraft for resource planning and security applications.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off at 0352 GMT Monday 12 July (11:52 p.m. EDT Sunday) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s east coast, where it was 9:22 a.m. local time.

The 146-foot-tall rocket soared into clear skies and flew southeast from the launch site. The four-stage launcher reached a 395-mile-high orbit approximately 17 minutes after liftoff, according to the Indian Space Research Organization.

The PSLV released Cartosat 2B, the mission’s primary payload, less than 40 seconds later, ISRO announced.

After jettisoning a dual satellite adapter, the rocket’s fourth stage deployed an Algerian remote sensing satellite and three student-built spacecraft to complete the launch sequence.

The PSLV was flying in its core-alone configuration without six solid rocket boosters.

Indian space officials declared the flight a complete success during a celebratory press conference.

“I’m extremely happy to say that the PSLV had an excellent flight,” said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO. “The 16th successive successful flight injected precisely five satellites [into orbit].”

The perfect blastoff occurred less than three months after ISRO was hit by a sobering failure of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, the country’s largest rocket.

ISRO attributed the mishap to a problem in the liquid hydrogen turbopump of the GSLV’s cryogenic third stage. The April 15 launch was the first flight of the Indian-built third stage, which was developed to replace a Russian engine used on the GSLV’s previous missions.

The launch of the workhorse PSLV came as India begins fixing the problem that plagued the GSLV mission in April. In a statement last week, ISRO said the indigenous GSLV third stage would fly again within a year.

Several former ISRO chairmen and at least one senior government official attended Monday’s launch and congratulated teams responsible for the success.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission. “Congratulations to all of you on a perfect take-off. I know that ISRO makes the country proud.”

The launch was delayed more than two months from early May after workers found a marginal drop in the pressure of the PSLV’s liquid-fueled second stage during standard testing. The stage was sent to another ISRO facility for repairs, then returned to the launch site to resume launch preparations.

Cartosat 2B is India’s third satellite with a peak imaging resolution of less than one meter.

The 1,530-pound spacecraft’s black-and-white camera has a resolution of 0.8 meters, or approximately 2.6 feet, giving users close views of cities, neighborhoods, natural resources and military sites around the world.

The imagery will have applications in resource mapping, urban planning, transportation studies, water monitoring, and crop inventories, according to ISRO.

Cartosat 2B is the 10th member of the Indian Remote Sensing satellite fleet, joining other platforms observing Earth’s land and ocean surfaces from orbit.

Monday’s flight also orbited the Alsat 2A remote sensing satellite for Algeria. Built by EADS Astrium of France, the spacecraft carries an imaging instrument with a maximum resolution of 2.5 meters, or 8.2 feet.

Alsat 2A is the first of two satellites Astrium is building for Algeria under an export cooperation contract. Alsat 2B will be assembled in Algeria with help from Astrium.

Algeria plans to use the satellites in cartography, agriculture and forestry management, mineral and oil resource monitoring, crop protection, and disaster response planning, according to Astrium.

A 14-pound satellite to demonstrate maritime ship-tracking technologies was also launched aboard the PSLV. Named AISSat 1, the craft was built by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies for the Norwegian government.

Norway plans to test the satellite’s ability to track shipping traffic with the Automatic Identification System, a radio communications network with transmitters on most large vessels.

-Two more small satellites, TIsat 1 and Studsat, were launched Monday for Swiss and Indian university students._

Source

Wayland, MA – The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) is seeking public comment on a Geography Markup Language (GML) XML encoding for describing the characteristics of a moving object, such as a GPS enabled car. This candidate standard provides a way of describing in simple terms the motion of an object, such as a car driving through city streets or a person walking in a park.

This candidate standard fills a need for “lightweight” packets of tracking information, such as direction and velocity, that can be communicated between diverse platforms and applications supporting mobile location-aware devices. The GML encoding used in this candidate standard is compatible with a wide range of other standard encodings used in other communities, such as emergency services.

The candidate standard and information on submitting comments on this document are available at http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/69.

The public comment period closes on August 7th, 2010.

The OGC is an international consortium of more than 395 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org

American scientists have made a major breakthrough in remote wave sensing, opening the way for detecting hidden explosives, chemical, biological agents and illegal drugs from a distance of 20 meters.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s new, all-optical system, using terahertz (THz) wave technology, has great potential for homeland security and military uses because it can “see through” clothing and packaging materials and can identify immediately the unique THz “fingerprints” of any hidden materials.

Terahertz waves occupy a large segment of the electromagnetic spectrum between the infrared and microwave bands which can provide imaging and sensing technologies not available through conventional technologies such as x-ray and microwave.

Xi-Cheng Zhang, director of the Center for THz Research at Rensselaer, said: “The potential of THz wave remote sensing has been recognized for years, but practical application has been blocked by the fact that ambient moisture interferes with wave transmission.”

Dr. Zhang, the J. Erik Jonsson Professor of Science at Rensselaer, is lead author of a paper to be published next week in the journal Nature Photonics. Titled “Broadband terahertz wave remote sensing using coherent manipulation of fluorescence from asymmetrically ionized gases,” the paper describes the new system in detail.

The “all optical” technique for remote THz sensing uses laser induced fluorescence, essentially focusing two laser beams together into the air to remotely create a plasma that interacts with a generated THz wave. The plasma fluorescence carries information from a target material to a detector where it is instantly compared with material spectrum in the THz “library,” making possible immediate identification of a target material.

Dr. Zhang said: “We have shown that you can focus a 800 nm laser beam and a 400 nm laser beam together into the air to remotely create a plasma interacting with the THz wave, and use the plasma fluorescence to convey the information of the THz wave back to the local detector.”

Because THz radiation transmits through almost anything that is not metal or liquid, the waves can “see” through most materials that might be used to conceal explosives or other dangerous materials, such as packaging, corrugated cardboard, clothing, shoes, backpacks and book bags.

Unlike x-rays, THz radiation poses little or no health threat. However, the technique cannot detect materials that might be concealed in body cavities.

Dr. Zhang said: “Our technology would not work for owners of an African diamond mine who are interested in the system to stop workers from smuggling out diamonds by swallowing them.”

Though most of the research has been conducted in a laboratory setting, the technology is portable and eventually could be used to check out backpacks or luggage abandoned in an airport for explosives, other dangerous materials or for illegal drugs. On battlefields, it could detect where explosives are hidden.

The fact that each substance has its own unique THz “fingerprint” will show exactly what compound or compounds are being hidden, a capability that is expected to have multiple important and unexpected uses. In the event of a chemical spill, for instance, remote sensing could identify the composition of the toxic mix. Since sensing is remote, no individuals will be needlessly endangered.

Dr. Zhang said: “I think I can predict that, within a few years, the THz science and technology will become more available and ready for industrial and defense-related use.” (ANI)

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Info related

The Airborne Sensing Corporation (ASC) has contracted with Vexcel Imaging GmbH, a Microsoft® company, to upgrade its UltraCamD to an UltraCamX large-format digital aerial camera system. ASC has used Vexcel Imaging products since June 2005 when the company first acquired an UltraCam, and then later purchased an UltraCamX in 2008.


“We have been pleased with the performance of our UltraCamD. The imagery has always met or greatly exceeded our clients’ expectations,” noted ASC’s President, Alex Giannelia. “We decided to upgrade to the UltraCamX because it will give us productivity improvements while maintaining a common equipment infrastructure.”

“Vexcel Imaging is pleased to continue its association with ASC,” said Alexander Wiechert, Business Director of Microsoft and Managing Director for Vexcel Imaging GmbH. “We make every effort to develop the products our customers need, and to provide upgrade paths that help them grow their businesses.”

Vexcel Imaging provides upgrade paths so that clients can upgrade any large-format UltraCam model to any newer model and retain compatibility with established workflows. The sequence of large-format digital aerial camera system models is UltraCamD, UltraCamX, UltraCamXp, UltraCamXp Wide Angle. Similarly, the medium-format UltraCamL can be upgraded to an UltraCamLp.

Internet: www.microsoft.com/ultracam/en-us/UltraCamXp.aspx