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(Dec 2008) EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, held its 66th Council meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, from December 9th through 10th.

The meeting was chaired by General Dr. Massimo Capaldo, Head of the Meteorological Department (Chief of the Staff Office — Ufficio Generale Spazio Aereo e Meteorologia) in the Italian General Meteorological Office.

This was the first EUMETSAT Council attended by Hungary as a full Member State, having joined on October 9, 2008. The Council approved resolutions on the accession of Poland and Latvia with a view to them becoming full Member States in 2009. The EUMETSAT Council extended the Cooperating State Agreement with Romania until the end of 2010. Negotiations on Romania becoming a full Member State will start in early 2009. The Council also approved an amendment to the Cooperating State agreement with Serbia, paving the way for the ratification of this agreement.

The Council also approved the organization of a meeting of potential participants in the Jason-2 ocean altimetry satellite follow-on program in early 2009, with several delegates expressing support for a Jason-2 follow-on mission. The Council adopted a Preliminary Programme Proposal on the Sentinel-3 Third Party Programme. This will allow EUMETSAT to initiate activities in January 2009 in anticipation of the later approval of a GMES/Kopernikus Sentinel-3 as a Third Party Programme in EUMETSAT under the responsibility of the European Space Agency (ESA). EUMETSAT will be the operator of Sentinel-3, serving the marine user community with near-real-time and off-line products.

The Council endorsed the concept for cooperation with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the Joint Polar System to follow the current generation of polar satellites. It also extended the cooperation agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the exchange of data from geostationary satellites to include polar-orbiting and ocean altimetry satellites. The Council approved a new technical building to support EUMETSAT’s present and future operational activities.

Finally, the Council discussed plans for promoting further EUMETSAT climate monitoring activities. This includes being a proactive contributor to new climate initiatives by, and implementing cooperation with, the European Commission and ESA; reinforcing cooperation on climate with the World Meteorological Organization, the Group on Earth Observations and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites; improving existing EUMETSAT communication activities on climate monitoring; updating the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility strategy to further support climate monitoring; and implementing a climate section in the EUMETSAT Earth Observation portal.

Source SATNEWS

(Dec 2008) Scientists and decision makers will soon have unrestricted global access at no charge to the USGS Landsat archive, the world�s most extensive collection of continuously acquired land imagery.

The full collection is expected to be available online, for the first time with no user fees, by the end of this year under a policy initiated by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. The wider availability of images from Landsat and other Earth-observation satellites will assist both developing and developed countries as the world’s increasing population deals with the effects of climate change and limitations of water, petroleum and other vital resources.

This development was recently recognized and applauded by the international Group on Earth Observations at its annual plenary meeting in Romania.

For more information, visit
http://www.earthobservations.org/ or
http://landsat.usgs.gov/

(Dec 2008) China successfully launched a remote-sensing satellite, “Yaogan V” in Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

The satellite was launched with a Long March-4B carrier rocket at , the center said.The satellite will be used for data collection and transmission involving land resources surveys, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments.

More info

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(Dec 2008) Vietnam plans to launch its first remote sensing satellite by 2012, the local newspaper Vietnam News Agency reported Friday. The country is now carrying out its satellite-launching project, worth about 100 million U.S. dollars.

The announcement was made by mid December by chairman of the national Research Program on Space Science and Technology NguyenKhoa Son at the 2008 Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-15).

Currently, Vietnam still has to buy images taken by satellites of foreign countries for the purpose of forecasting weather, protecting the environment and studying natural resources.

“When the VNREDSAT-1 is operational by 2012, Vietnam will be able to take photographs of the Earth from outer space, which will help Vietnam improve the efficiency of natural resources management, environmental protection and disaster prevention,” said Son.

Capital investment for the project would mostly come from Official Development Assistance (ODA), and will be used to manufacture, launch, and control the satellite, build a control station for the satellite, transfer technology and train experts, said Son.

Vietnam is seeking more foreign partners who can provide both capital and technical assistance so that the pre-feasibility research can be conducted in the near future, according to Son.

Vietnam successfully launched its first telecommunication satellite VINASAT-1 in April, 2008.

Source: Xinhua News Agency
Source SPACEMART

(Dec 2008) Source Vector 1 Media. Articles by Jeff Thurston and Matt Ball


jeff Thurston

There are both similarities and differences between North American and European geospatial initiatives and approaches. Europe consists of 27 EU member states as well as several non-member states as compared to Mexico, United States and Canada. Europeans appear more coordinated in their geospatial approaches, the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE), EuroGeographics, European Space Agency (ESA), Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and other programs are transboundary in orientation. However, it is much more difficult in Europe to find young company’s venturing into entrepreneurial space alone. There are several reasons for this.

Since we write about and report on an international basis, Vector1 Media has the opportunity to engage government, industry and institutions around the world. That results in unique observations. We are also one of very few geospatial related publications with editors actually located in both Europe and North America. We can truly say that we are global in scope, and that nurtures observations and realisations.

European geospatial initiatives and approaches are heavily weighted toward government agencies and institutions. INSPIRE is perhaps the finest example of this with EU member states combining to develop and initiate policies that are transboundary in scope. The current Directive will become a requirement in early 2009, impacting all 27 member states. The net result is a collection of common Annex thematic areas which are grouped as priorities across the member states.

I cannot think of one common geospatial collection of thematic study areas between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Each of these countries operates unilaterally and concepts like studying transboundary river basins, cross border pollution and waterways (St. Lawrence Seaway) are few and far between. For three countries that share such large tracts of land with interfacing borders, it is somewhat perplexing that they do not have more formal (and highly visible) coordinated geospatial efforts, at least in some areas.

The issue of beginning a company (incorporation) has many differences between Europe and North America. While the United KIngdom permits incorporation for a relatively low cost, such is not the case in Germany where those initials ‘GmBH’ – which designate a limited corporation cost about 25,000 Euro to obtain. This obviously impacts the level of entrpreneurship for those individuals seeking to start a company with protected liability.

Several programs within Europe, such as GMES, ESA and Transport initiatives often originate through the European Union. The GALILEO GPS satellite system is another example of a program whose origin will rest with the EU, and thusly be controlled and regulated based on the member states agreement and willingness to support the program.

The study of spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is advanced within Europe. There are several projects that are operating across Europe that can be considered as SDI in nature and scope. They are not easy to manage and many of them need to develop their own unique character, thereby enabling the individuals and organisations within them to effectively manage and operate them. By comparison, North American programs, at least in my observation, tend to operate within countries who later meet at higher levels, developing cross country policies.

The approaches used for developing and solving geospatial problems between Europe and North America often follow a similar step-by-step approach. That is, when it comes to GIS, these projects tend to assess the need for GIS in similar ways and implement geosptial tools using similar approaches. This is how and why interoperability works on a global scale, although any differences can still be tailored with similar tools.

The area of SDI and GSDI are perhaps one of the most interesting when considering both regions. Neither has really solved the issues. The concept of states and provinces within North America working together and meeting challenges is not far removed from countries across Europe. Often North American jurisdictions have considerable responsbility and autonomy to enact changes as whole European countries do.

Culture and language as they relate to geospatial applications within Europe can be an issue. Although, one would be hard pressed to deny that placemarks in Virtual Earth or Google Earth or ArcExplorer are not global in nature and coverage, thus essentially breaking down these variables. People often say to me, “how is it that Germany would be interested in your magazine?” My response is often eye opening, since Germany is the world’s largest exporter and therefore many geospatial professionals speak English within the country — they are net geospatial exporters. The Netherlands is also rated high on this capability. The Provinces of Alberta and Ontario, Canada operate trade offices within Germany. On more than a few occasions I have had the opportunity to listen as they shared details about Canadian geospatial companies.

1Spatial, a UK-based company is one of few British operating geospatial related companies that is fully engaged across Europe, and has even gone further afield to Australia. The last statistics I have read clearly indicated that 60% of UK GDP originates within Europe, thus making Europe a primary territory for geospatial exports, knowledge and opportunity. By comparison, North America has been very effective at developing the global scale virtual world space. The geotechnologies associated with platforms and primary operating technologies.

There are exceptions to every rule and approach. However, the future for any geospatial company or individual today lies in realising the global nature of geospatial technologies, knowledge and opportunity. Laws governing operation may impact them, but geography and geospatial approaches are global in scope and demand tailoring to unique situations both across the road, as well as around the planet.

Matt Ball

The approaches for spatial data infrastructure (SDI) vary widely within these continents, and particularly from country to country in North America. One overriding difference in data policy that still has broad play across regions is the fee vs. free model for data collected by the government. The United States has long made federal data available for free, and has cultivated a strong geospatial industry based on that openness.

There appears to be more traction for the open data model of late across the world. Just this week, Geoff Zeiss reported on efforts in Australia and the United Kingdom to quantify the net benefits of open vs. free geospatial data to the overall economy. In both countries it was found that free and open data would have a greater positive impact on the economy than the restrictive licensing and cost recovery that currently exists in some countries.
Setting a Firm Foundation
While the United States established a policy of open data sharing among agencies and the public, the federated rather than centralized approach has long meant data collection redundancy and a lack of a strong foundation. While the U.S. Geological Survey owned the mapping mandate with the national topographic map set, the mandate became splintered by different agency interests when digital map data came to the forefront.

To be fair, there was no easy means for coordinated and centralized efforts when this paradigm shift occurred. It made sense for agencies to forge their own path with their own mainframe computers, in light of the fact that data sharing at the time for data at the national scale was near impossible. That momentum has been very hard to shift, even with the advent of the Internet as an enabler for collaboration.

The problem in the developed world is that geospatial data exists in many formats and for many purposes. It’s a very complex task to normalize and set the foundation after a great deal of work has already begun, and a number of different stakeholders have become entrenched with their own approaches.

Canada jump-started their GeoConnections program in 1999 with Internet distribution and data normalization as key components for building a better national data set. This approach, coupled with an emphasis on partnerships with government and industry, has provided good traction for the creation of the Canadian Spatial Data Infrastructure, and is serving as a model for other nations. The USGS does have the right idea for the National Map, along the same partnering and distribution model as GeoConnections, but it’s lacking a real mandate.

Standard Cause

Critical to the success of broad geospatial initiatives is a spirit of cooperation, collaboration and common purpose. From the perspective of the United States, these three ingredients have existed at different points in time, and haven’t come together yet to forge much progress on SDI that would take us to the next level.

Of late, there’s been more traction in the United States to ensure that no two federal players are paying twice for the same data. There’s now a growing trend to spread the collaboration efforts from the federal government down to the states in such initiatives as Imagery for the Nation and Transportation for the Nation, where all stakeholders could share in data collected once and distributed many times. The fact that so many states and agencies are behind this effort gives great hope for better data collaboration in the next administration.

The United States federal partners have long collaborated to establish data standards and outreach programs via the Federal Geographic Data Committee. This effort to set baseline standards for data across agencies and the country have effectively established best practices that have gained much respect around the world. While the standards creation process has been strong in this agency, a lack of authority to force change has hampered it’s ability to forge progress.

The common purpose has nowhere been more evident than immediately after 9/11, when it became overwhelmingly obvious that geospatial data was critical for disaster response. There was good movement immediately after this event to elevate the cause of standards and interoperability, but this momentum has largely faded, due in large part to the confusion and chaos of combining many agencies, including FEMA, into the behemoth Homeland Security Department.

Data Availability and Quality

As outlined above, the open data policy that has existed in the United States has only gone so far in solving cross-institutional redundancy and distribution issues.This contrasts with the standardization and high quality of the data created by the United Kingdom’s Ordnance Survey that operates solely on a cost recovery basis with strict licensing restrictions. Somewhere there’s a happy medium here where we can have high quality and openness.

I see some great promise in Europe’s INSPIRE program to forge this new paradigm, but I’m also daunted by the complexity of the data normalization problem that they face. In light of other normalization issues that haven’t garnered broad adherence, such as the standard Euro currency, there’s a tough road ahead.

The objectives of North American and European geospatial initiatives are in alignment as are most other parts of the world. The issue for major progress comes down to political will and simplification of complex problems. Perhaps climate change and the fate of our planet will provide the rallying point we all need to get beyond our current bottlenecks.

SOURCE VECTOR1MEDIA

(Jan 2009) A satellite that will measure how the earth “breathes out” greenhouse gases is to be launched into space this month.

The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) has been created in Japan to monitor emissions from around the planet from space and it is hoped the data it provides will help in the fight against global warming.

The orbiting satellite will track the emission of carbon dioxide and methane, gases that contribute heavily to the greenhouse effect.

Dubbed Ibuki – Japanese for “breath” – the satellite will record greenhouse gas emissions in 56,000 locations across the globe while orbiting the planet once every three days at an altitude of 666km.

While there are currently around 280 observations points around the world monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, the new satellite will offer scientists a non-terrestrial perspective of global emissions for the first time.

Takashi Hamazaki, satellite project manager of the satellite at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said: “Ground observation points at present [ ] are not evenly distributed, so we can by no means say we are observing the entire globe.

“By comparison, GOSAT will have 56,000 observation points and will be able to acquire data covering the entire globe every three days. We think this will improve the accuracy of global warming predictions.”

The absorption of carbon dioxide by the planet’s plants and its photosynthesis into oxygen forms part of the cycle of “breathing” which scientists will be able to monitor, along with greenhouse gases emitted by deforestation, factories and the burning of natural fuels.

The denser the gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, the more infrared rays of light are absorbed, enabling the satellite to determine their concentration via the strength of the light emitted.

The data from the satellite will be updated every three days and analysed by researchers at the Environment Ministry and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, before being distributed freely to scientists around the globe.

“I’d like to watch the earth breathing,” said Mr Hamazaki. “I’d like to make a visual model of the Earth and its various ecosystems’ inhalation and exhalation of CO2 and methane.” The project, which costs an estimated £259 million (34.6 billion yen), will be launched into space from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan on Jan 21.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo, 05 Jan 2009

Source Telegraph

(Jan 2009) GeoEye, a leading producer of satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial information, today announced it has contracted with ITT Corporation to begin work on the camera for GeoEye’s next satellite, GeoEye-2.

This is the first step in a phased development process for an advanced, third-generation satellite capable of discerning objects on the Earth’s surface as small as 0.25-meter (9.75 inch) in size. The company expects to contract with a satellite builder in 2008 and launch the satellite approximately three years after work begins under that contract.

GeoEye-2 will be of the same general class as GeoEye-1, but will benefit from significant improvements in capability, including enhanced direct tasking, and the potential to collect imagery of the Earth’s surface at 0.25-meter or 9.75-inch ground resolution. While GeoEye has an operating license from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to build and launch a satellite constellation with this extremely high ground resolution, the final decision regarding GeoEye-2 resolution will be made in response to how best to serve customer requirements, as well as consideration of the current regulatory environment.

Under current licensing constraints, only U.S. Government customers and specifically designated allies have access to imagery at this highest resolution while commercial customers receive imagery at the highest resolution allowed by U.S. regulations, currently 0.5-meter or 19.5 inch ground resolution.

While this contract announcement is for GeoEye-2, GeoEye is nearing the launch of its next-generation commercial satellite imaging system, GeoEye-1, slated for late first quarter or early second quarter 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. GeoEye-1 will be the world’s highest resolution commercial Earth imaging satellite with the best geospatial accuracy available.

The satellite will be able to discern objects on the ground .41-meter or 16 inches in size or larger. More importantly, GeoEye-1 will be able to locate an object that size to within about nine feet of its true location on the surface of the globe without ground control points. Imagery an be supplied in color or if the customer prefers, in black and white.

GeoEye-1 Satellite Image Gallery

Satellite Imaging Corporation uses advanced image processing techniques from various satellite sensors such as color and panchromatic image data processing, orthorectification, pan sharpening with image data fusion, image enhancements, georeferencing, mosaicing, and color/grayscale balancing and is used in various applications.

Source Spatialnews

(Dec 2008) Lockheed Martin (LMT:Lockheed Martin Corporation (Holding Company) and Thales Alenia Space of Italy announced today they are forming a strategic partnership to jointly develop and deliver a new family of space-based remote sensing systems for customers around the world.

The joint business agreement leverages each company’s resources, talents, programs and customer partnerships in a way that allows Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and Thales Alenia Space to expand their respective remote sensing product areas and businesses.

Thales Alenia Space is a leader in developing, manufacturing, and delivering turn-key remote sensing systems, including satellites, platforms and payloads that feature Synthetic Aperture Radars for civilian, defense and dual-use applications. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company has a long history in small satellite production and systems integration expertise.

“This partnership builds on our respective strengths and proven performance in providing world-class, cost-effective solutions for civil and defense customers globally,” said Rick Ambrose, vice president and general manager of Surveillance and Navigation Systems for Lockheed Martin. “As earth observation solutions become increasingly important to our customers, Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space, through our strategic partnership, are well positioned to help our global customers successfully achieve their space radar objectives.”

The initial focus of the partnership is to combine the experience and capabilities of each company to offer new, highly-responsive and agile space radar solutions for a variety of customers. The agreement is based on a framework the two companies established in 2007 and has expanded as part of this new phase of development. The two companies are actively completing their integrated design based on proven, technology-ready components and expect production cycle and pricing to be highly competitive while offering customers a space radar with high-utility, maximum flexibility and great reliability.

“In the last decade, Thales Alenia Space has dramatically strengthened its leadership and experience in the satellite remote sensing market for civilian, defense and dual-use applications, delivering several systems, satellites, platforms, and payloads to customers worldwide,” said Massimo Di Lazzaro, executive vice president and general manager of the Radar Observation Systems unit of Thales Alenia Space. “This agreement allows us to further expand our customer base and to address the U.S. market as well, where we have already begun our cooperation with Lockheed Martin.”

About Thales Alenia Space
The European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups’ “Space Alliance”. Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecoms, radar and optical earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. The company has a total of 7,200 employees and 11 industrial sites, with locations in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium. http://www.thalesaleniaspace.com

About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures, and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil, and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion

Lockheed Martin Media Contacts
Steve Tatum, 408-742-7531;
e-mail, stephen.o.tatum@lmco.com
Chip Manor, 408-742-3397;
e-mail, charles.manor@lmco.com

Thales Alenia Space Press Contact
Sandrine Bielecki Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94
sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com
Laurence Coquillot Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 67 66
laurence.coquillot@thalesaleniaspace.com

SOURCE Lockheed Martin
Copyright © 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Source}

Spacenews

(Dec 2008) European aircraft manufacturer EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained clearance from European Union antitrust regulators on Thursday to buy British satellite maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the European Commission said.

EADS produces aircraft, telecoms equipment, defence and security systems and satellites. It is also active in the space sector via its subsidiary Astrium, which designs, develops and manufactures satellite systems and their equipment.

SSTL produces satellites, related products and services. The two companies mainly overlap in the production of Earth Observation (EO) satellites sold on the worldwide export market, primarily to non-EU governments or space agencies.

Commission experts concluded that after the transaction, customers in the export market for EO satellites would still have a choice between several significant alternative suppliers.

“The transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within the European economic area,” the Commission, which regulates EU competition policy, said in a statement.

It also said the proposed transaction would not remove a significant actual or potential rival to Astrium on this market. (Reporting by Jeremy Smith, editing by Dale Hudson)

Source

(Dec 2008) The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), through its commercial launch business, has received a contract to launch the fourth satellite for the COSMO-SkyMed (Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) program for Thales Alenia Space Italia, prime contractor of the Italian Space Agency.


The COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft is expected to be launched in 2010 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on a Delta II vehicle in the 7420-10 configuration.

“Boeing Launch Services is honored to provide the fourth COSMO-SkyMed mission for Thales Alenia Space,” said Boeing Launch Services President Ken Heinly. “The proven reliability of the Delta II rocket has enabled the success of the COSMO-SkyMed program, and this fourth satellite will deliver the full capabilities of the system.”

Boeing Launch Services will procure the launch vehicle and related support from United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.

To support a rapid initial operating capability, Boeing successfully launched the first three COSMO-SkyMed satellites from Vandenberg within the 17-month period between June 2007 and October 2008.

Thales Alenia Space Italia developed the COSMO-SkyMed program for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense. It is an end-to-end Earth-observation system comprised of four medium-sized satellites and supporting ground stations, which provide orbit-control systems and data reception and processing. The system takes imagery of the Earth using an X- Band Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument capable of operating in all visibility conditions. Its institutional and commercial users include members of the civil, scientific and defense communities.

Boeing is committed to strengthening its more than 40-year partnership with the Italian aeronautics industry and to expanding its collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Defense. Thales Alenia Space has provided Delta II tanks to Boeing since 2001 and built the Cupola and Harmony Node 2 elements of the International Space Station (ISS) for the European Space Agency. Boeing is the prime contractor for the ISS.

Boeing Launch Services is a customer-focused subsidiary that provides business development, sales, procurement and program management of Delta launch services for commercial customers. It is part of the Space Exploration division of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and is based in Huntington Beach, Calif.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (http://www.boeing.com/ids/) is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.

SOURCE The Boeing Company=

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