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Air France is showing its passengers satellite views of the countries, cities and terrain they are flying over, thanks to a new partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The French airline receives satellite images of varying resolutions from ESA on CD-ROMs and uses them to create a program lasting the full length of each flight on its services from Paris to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore.

Air France says it is the first airline in the world to offer the service to passengers. The airline shows the satellite-image programs on a dedicated channel on its 777s’ inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, which provide seat-back screens for each passenger.

The images are integrated into the Geovision flight-information displays that passengers can see on their seat-back screens. Geovision is Air France’s brand name for the Airshow flight-information software produced by Rockwell Collins in Tustin, Calif.

“It is an example of the innovative initiatives that Air France aims to develop for our passengers,” said Patrick Roux, Air France’s vice president of marketing. “We are looking forward to extending this offer to other destinations.”

Initially Air France has supplied the satellite-image CD-ROMs to its fleet of 14 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which operate the airline’s routes to India and Singapore, said Christian Maquin, the Air France marketing department project manager overseeing the ESA satellite-imagery project.

But these aircraft also serve destinations other than Singapore and India. And since some images —such as the four images shown on takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle and over northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands— are common to many long-haul routes, passengers on other flights are also able to view them for parts of their journeys, said Maquin.

So far, ESA has selected 250 image acquisitions for Air France from various satellites, including its own Envisat and Proba, as well as Korea’s Kompsat and the Spot 5 satellite operated by French space agency CNES. The images vary in resolution depending on where the aircraft is in its flight and which satellite was used to provide the image, said ESA Earth-observation spokesman Frederic Le Gall.

For instance, the images of the departure city and surrounding area shown just after takeoff and the destination area just before landing have resolutions of one pixel to 4 to 5 meters, said Le Gall. These images are provided by the Proba or the Spot 5 satellites. Images that are shown while the aircraft is in cruise flight — such as Envisat images of the European Alps — are medium-resolution photographs, typically featuring a resolution of one pixel to 300 meters.

Each 777-300ER’s Geovision system is set up with automatic triggering parameters so that a new image is shown every time the aircraft reaches a certain distance from a point of interest en route.

Most images are triggered 40 kilometers (25 miles) from geographical points of interest, said Maquin. In such cases, the image is shown throughout the time the aircraft takes to traverse the 25-mile-radius circle around the point of interest.
The images aren’t real-time. Some are very recent, but some are up to a year old. However, Air France has the opportunity to update the images —and to add satellite-image IFE programs for new long-haul routes— up to three times a year, when it updates its Geovision software, said Maquin.

Air France will begin offering the satellite-image program on additional routes as soon as possible, but in some cases its ability to provide it will depend on the capacity of the image CD-ROM. That’s because Air France has to caption its Geovision programs in two languages in some cases.

The airline will probably introduce the new satellite-image program next on its services to Tokyo and other routes to Japan, said Maquin. But since the airline uses the Geovision system across its entire long-haul fleet, which numbers more than 100 aircraft, Air France’s passengers to North America eventually will be able to see satellite images of the terrain they are flying over and their destinations, he confirmed.

Geographical points of interest on Air France’s North American services that the airline might illustrate with satellite images are destinations such as Boston and New York and features such as the Great Lakes and the Grand Canyon, said Maquin.

Air France’s ability under the ESA program to show satellite images to its passengers could be enhanced in the future. “We might also have other (satellite image-provider) partners joining further out,” said Le Gall.

ESA isn’t negotiating yet with any other airline to provide satellite images for their IFE flight-information channels. “But, as a public institution, we have no exclusivity,” noted Le Gall.

Commercial companies, universities, space research agencies such as NASA and ESA, are nowadays engaged in the development of a new spacecraft generation called microsatellites

Weighing less than 100kg, they provide GPS navigation, weather predictions, and Earth observation just like traditional satellites; but they are faster to build and much cheaper.

A typical microsatellite can cost as little as 10 million euros as opposed to hundreds of millions for traditional satellites. About 400 microsatellites have been launched in orbit over the last 20 years for scientific, commercial and military purposes.
The high maneuverability of microsats enables them to perform tricky tasks such as refueling and fixing satellites already in orbit, or correcting their trajectory to keep them on the right spot. There are about 800 satellites orbiting at the moment, whereas 66% are for communications, and 6% are in use by the military.

More information.

Fundamental growth is expected in the services sector in Europe with the demand from European government programmes is very likely to increase via programmes such as Galileo and GMES.

Particular attention will be paid to launch services, which are essential to giving Europe independent access to space.

One of such initiatives is the Cosmo-SkyMed programme deployed the Italian Defense Ministry and supported by Telespazio, planning to go ahead with the Sicral 1B satellite, a co-investment in the launch scheduled for 2008 worth about €400 million.
The Sicral satellites are part of the “NATO Satcom Post 2000” programme in which Italy will be responsible for 100% of the NATO communication services.

The Sicral system for military communications via satellite allows tactical and strategic connections in national and out area territories, such as mobile communications with ground, naval and air platforms. The complex is composed by space segment, the satellite, and a ground segment with the Vigna di Valle Control and Management Center, near Rome. The satellite preparation and engagement have been managed by Defense administration, in particular by “Reparto TEI (Telecomunicazioni Elettronica Informatica)” of Defense General Staff.

More information

A professor in Imperial’s Department of Physics has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal by the Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) in recognition of the way he has put European space science on the world map.

Professor David Southwood who is also currently Director of Science at the European Space Agency (ESA), was presented with the medal by Sir Colin Terry, Chairman of the CEAS, at the Council’s annual conference in Berlin on 12 September 2007.

At the medal presentation ceremony, Sir Colin cited Professor Southwood’s contributions to European aerospace as the main reason he had been selected for this year’s Gold Medal, which has been awarded every year since 1998. Special mention was made of Professor Southwood’s earlier work at ESA, between 1997 – 2000 when he was head of Earth Observation strategy. During this time he worked to set up the new ‘Living Planet’ project which was realised in 2000 and consisted of a series of spacecraft now in production focused on particular aspects of Earth science. The first four spacecraft being developed will measure and monitor global ice cover, global ocean circulation, soil moisture and ocean salinity, and wind speed throughout the atmosphere.

Commenting on his award, Professor Southwood said:

“I’m extremely proud to have been awarded this medal – I had no idea I’d been nominated! My six years as Director of Science have been a wonderful period, from launching the Integral gamma ray observatory with the Russians, through the dramas and final great scientific harvest of Mars Express, to the landing of Huygens on Titan.
Nobody doubts that with companies like Airbus and Eurocopter, Europe is a world player in aircraft, but these days ‘aerospace’ means aircraft and spacecraft. Space science is going to be increasingly important in the 21st century and I’m delighted to have played a part in strengthening Europe’s position in this field.”

The CEAS is a new grouping of the major national aerospace academic societies of Europe. The UK one is the Royal Aerospace Society and there are eight altogether representing France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. It was formerly the Confederation of European Aerospace Societies founded in 1992.

Intermap Technologies, Corp. announced that its commercial initiative to create a uniform high accuracy 3-D map of all of Western Europe called NEXTMap® Europe can enable geospatial professionals to meet mandates spelled-out in Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament.

The EU Directive mandates the establishment, within the next several years, of an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) in an effort to provide a higher level of environmental protection that takes into account the diverse regions within the community.

Intermap was unaware of Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament when the NEXTMap Europe program began in 2006. Now, 15 months after its inception, the program has passed the 50% completion mark for data collection. When complete, the Company’s mapping program will provide interested parties with affordable and uniform countrywide 3D digital elevation data and orthorectified radar images across Western Europe.

Directive 2007/2/EC emphasizes the importance of organizational coordination and the sharing of spatial data between public agencies across municipal, regional, and national borders within the EU. It further states the importance “that the infrastructures for spatial information created by the Member States are compatible and usable in a Community and trans-boundary context.”

Intermap’s countrywide digital elevation models and geometric images are characterized by a level of accuracy and uniformity currently non-existent within the EU. The integrity of NEXTMap Europe® data has been validated by eleven independent agencies, including the University of Stuttgart, the Environment Agency of England & Wales, University College London, USGS, and NASA. The entire data set will be collected for most of the EU Member States by early 2008 and all of the data will be processed by the end of 2008. When complete, the data set will cover over 17 countries and include more than 80 billion elevation measurements and 1.3 trillion image pixels.

“The astounding achievement of NEXTMap Europe is encompassed in the realization that every feature of the landscape — be it a tree, rock, bush, stream or man made object, now has a GPS address that is known to an accuracy of 2 meters horizontally and 1 meter vertically,” said Brian Bullock, Intermap Technologies’ president and chief executive officer. “As an organization, we are extremely proud of the fact that our NEXTMap® Europe program is a market-leading commercial venture that will enable the EU to meet the requirements of the Directive, while providing a superior product that will ultimately support a wide range of geospatial applications throughout each country.”

About Intermap Technologies

Intermap (TSX: IMP.TO, AIM: IMAP.L) is creating uniform 3D digital models of the earth’s surface and building a library of affordably priced elevation data and geometric images of unprecedented accuracy. The Company is proactively remapping entire countries and building uniform national databases, called NEXTMap®. Demand for NEXTMap® data is growing as new commercial applications emerge within the GIS, engineering, automotive, personal navigation device, insurance risk assessment, oil and gas, hydrology, environmental planning, wireless communications, transportation, aviation, and 3D visualization markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap employs more than 500 people worldwide, with additional offices in Calgary, Detroit, Jakarta, London, Munich, Ottawa, and Prague. For more information, visit www.Intermap.com.

Contact Intermap Technologies

Kevin Thomas, Vice President, Marketing


jointly tap the growing market in the EO services and small satellites sectors of the global space business

Astrium, the €3.2-billion European space company, and Antrix Corporation of India will jointly tap the growing market in the earth observation services and small satellites sectors of the global space business.

Astrium, the wholly owned subsidiary of EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company), plans to market India’s remote sensing imagery in Europe and the US, according to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Francois Auque.

Astrium and Antrix, which have a memorandum of understanding, will also explore new market opportunities in the small satellites weighing 2-3 tonnes and carrying 12-30 transponders of both the C and Ku band for communications, telecom and so on.

Major contracts

The duo jointly won two major contracts for communications satellites from — Eutelsat and Avanti Communications of the UK. While Antrix (commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation) will build, assemble and integrate the satellites in Bangalore, Astrium will provide the payload, he said. Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the business conclave at the ongoing 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAF) here today, Mr Auque said, “The integration of Eutelsat W-2M has already started in Bangalore and the satellite is expected to be launched by the end of 2008 by Arianespace from French Guyana”.

The satellite would offer DTH (direct to home) services. On the other hand, Avanti will have a global flexible payload and offer various communication and telecom services and is expected to be launched in 2009.

Stating that the contracts were worth millions of dollars each, Mr Auque said through this strategic partnership both the companies expect to increase their share of the growing business opportunities in space.

For Astrium, which has capabilities of launching bigger satellites, the Antrix platform to build and integrate smaller satellites makes strategic sense. The duo are in talks with several prospective customers for near time business, he said.

Mr Auque felt India’s experience to market services in the earth observation services, can be taken to global markets, with a range of products that have applications across sectors.
Civil space market

The Astrium Chief estimated the civil space market to be over $30 billion with the bulk of it ($17 billion) being from the US. China and Russia are also huge markets, while in military the US alone has a $25-billion market.

Astrium operates three divisions — space transportation, satellite design and manufacture and satellite services. It offers launch services, through a partnership with Arianespace and has wholly owned subsidiaries such as Paradigm and Infoterra.

The Indian Space Research Organisation will finalise details of Chandrayaan-II in six months, said Chairman G. Madhavan Nair.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 58th International Astronautical Congress here, he said the ISRO would consider sending a lander-rover, which can move on the surface of the moon. The conceptual design for the project was being evolved.
As for Chandrayaan-I, the ISRO was building the spacecraft. It would carry two instruments from the United States and also payloads from European countries including Bulgaria. However, the primary missions would be carried out with six Indian instruments.

Chandrayaan-I was mostly a remote-sensing spacecraft, meant for scanning the lunar surface for minerals and water.
The next project would look at the possibility of collecting samples and analysing them on the spot. Though Chandrayaan-II was basically an Indian mission, the ISRO would consider participation by other countries case by case if they showed interest in it.
Asked whether India had plans to participate in the International Space Station, Mr. Nair said, “We don’t have a meaningful proposal to conduct any experiment”.

On the proposed 60 ISRO missions, he said a series of communication and earth observation satellites including Oceansat and the radar imaging satellite had been lined up to meet national needs.

The capacity of the communication satellite was proposed to be increased from 200 to 500 transponders. This would require 10 missions to complete.

Also planned were 10-12 earth observation satellites and another 10 communication satellites. The GSLV Mark-III would be operational in two years.

European scientists are making a wealth of satellite-derived data on water quality easily accessible.

Users can map specific areas in near real-time, and use the results to get the “bigger picture” of water quality that is easily missed by spot sampling programmes.

A scientist leans over the edge of her boat and hoists in the last sampling jar. She closes the lid and packs it into a crate with all the others. Later, the laboratory will declare the area clear of contamination, but just a kilometre away, an undetected toxic algal bloom is spreading.
“Spot sampling is most accurate for monitoring water quality, but it can miss the big picture,” says Dr Frank Fell, director of the small German IT company Informus. “Samples from a river mouth do not tell you about the quality of water a kilometre out to sea, nor ten kilometres along the coast. That’s when you need satellite data, which can image water quality over an entire area.”
Fortunately, even though satellites cost millions to build and send into space, it is relatively cheap to tap into their resources. The data from several earth observation and weather satellites are available online for public use.

Tapping into the data

“Back in 2000, we realised that useful earth observation data was available and could really help environmental agencies to monitor water quality,” Dr Fell says. “But it was technically difficult to get hold of the information, which came from different space agencies in different formats. So we formed a research project to develop a simple online tool that non-experts could use to access archived or near real-time satellite data for specific geographical areas.”

The SISCAL service is the result of four years of EU-funded collaboration between European universities, environmental research institutes and public agencies responsible for water quality in Denmark, Norway, Germany and Israel. It combines internet, data processing and storage technologies with geographic information systems (GIS).

SISCAL’s customers can use the system to access and visualise water quality information for a specific geographic location. Water quality indicators including sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration and sediment concentrations.
An important aspect of SISCAL service which differentiates it from similar products is its customisation: users can incorporate their local knowledge of the eco-system into the data processing and analysis.

“The data coming from the space agencies is processed using global algorithms,” explains Dr Fell, “but these are not always appropriate for smaller, localised geographic areas. We tailor SISCAL for each user and incorporate local algorithms that make the satellite data more accurate for each area under observation. SISCAL also renders the satellite data and combines it with the user’s own data archive to make it available for GIS software.”

Big clients

SISCAL currently has three clients: two are in Israel (the Ministry of the Environment and the Israel Water Commission) and one in Australia (a private desalination facility). These clients are using the tool to complement their existing in situ sampling networks. For example, flooding on the Nile may push large plumes of sediment along the Levantine coast, but the satellite images provide advanced warning, so that Israel’s coastal desalination plants can protect their filters from clogging.

SISCAL is also providing Israel’s electricity companies with a much better idea of marine temperatures so that they can adjust their generating output according to the temperature of the sea, which is used as cooling water.

The Water Commission is using SISCAL to monitor water quality (especially the duration and extent of algal blooms), particularly on Lake Kinneret. The tool helps to optimise the positioning and procedures for the in situ monitoring systems.

“We developed some local algorithms for the Water Commission,” says Dr Fell. “The operational product from the satellites was out of range when applied to just the lake, but we derived some simple algorithms that made it possible to apply earth observation to this lake.”

But why so much interest from clients outside of Europe?

Dr Fell explains that SISCAL is ideal for the export market.

“European environmental agencies have invested huge amounts on vast, effective in situ monitoring networks to comply with legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive. They are meeting their legal obligations and mostly do not have the resources to purchase the additional benefits of SISCAL. But outside Europe, where in situ monitoring is much less extensive, people are willing to invest. SISCAL perfectly complements and enhances their spot sampling networks. In fact, earth observation may even be the only reliable source of information available.”

Dr Fell is confident that more SISCAL clients, perhaps some from within Europe, will come on board as the benefits of earth observation in this field become more recognised.

“We have an operational system that has been running smoothly for four years,” he says. “SISCAL is providing users with a customised system and near real-time satellite data. Earth observation of the marine eco-system is feasible and fruitful.”

Source: ICT Results

GeoEye-1 satellite

GeoEye, Inc., a leading producer of satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial information, today announced that it has successfully secured approximately US$ 270 million of launch and first-year on-orbit insurance for its next-generation GeoEye-1 satellite.

This insurance was obtained at a premium rate that was less than previously anticipated. The launch of GeoEye-1 is slated for late first quarter or early second quarter 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In addition, the Company has received US$ 40 million of insurance proceeds resulting from the loss of its OrbView-3 imaging satellite earlier this year. The payment represents the full amount of the insurance claim and will be recorded as a gain in GeoEye’s third quarter financial results.

Willis Inspace acted as broker for both transactions.

In conjunction with GeoEye’s loan covenants, the company is required to offer to redeem up to US$ 40 million of its Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2012 at par value, including accrued and unpaid interest. To the extent the full amount of the proceeds is not used to repurchase the notes, GeoEye would retain the cash for general corporate purposes.

“The successful placement of launch and on-orbit insurance represents the completion of a significant milestone in the GeoEye-1 satellite program,” said Henry Dubois, GeoEye’s chief financial officer. “This placement represents a significant milestone on the path to launching GeoEye-1. We are grateful to Willis Inspace for their efforts in helping us reach a successful conclusion for both of these important transactions.”

GeoEye is nearing completion of integration and testing of its next-generation commercial satellite imaging system, GeoEye-1. The satellite is being built by General Dynamics/Advanced Information Systems in Gilbert, Ariz. Once operational, the satellite will be able to discern objects on the ground 16 inches in size or larger. More importantly, the satellite will be able to locate an object that size to within about nine feet of its true location on the surface of the globe. Imagery from GeoEye-1 will be in colour or in black and white. GeoEye-1 will be the world’s highest resolution commercial Earth imaging satellite and no other commercial imaging company will be able to match this capability.

About GeoEye

GeoEye is the premier provider of geospatial information, imagery and solutions for the national security community, strategic partners, resellers and commercial customers to help them better map, measure and monitor the world. GeoEye operates a constellation of Earth imaging satellites, mapping aircraft and has an international network of ground stations, a robust imagery archive, and advanced geospatial imagery processing capabilities. GeoEye-1 will be the world’s highest resolution and most accurate commercial imaging satellite. GeoEye provides support to academic institutions and non-governmental organisations through the GeoEye Foundation. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, GeoEye maintains a comprehensive Quality Management System (QMS), and has achieved company-wide ISO accreditation.

(source: GeoEye)

ISU’s 12th Annual Symposium

ISU’s 12th Annual Symposium, addressing the question of how space can help top tackle Earth’s global challenges in the 21st century, will be held from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd February 2008 in Strasbourg. A summary of the scope is provided below and further details appear at the ISU website.

In each academic year the International Space University (ISU) organizes a three-day symposium at its Central Campus in Strasbourg on a topical theme. Our previous symposia have addressed subjects as diverse as commercialization of the International Space Station, small satellite design and applications, and future navigation systems. At our 10th Annual Symposium in late 2005, we posed the set of questions ‘Space Exploration: Who, What, When, Where, Why?’ since exploration of the solar system had become, by then, the most exciting topic on the space agenda. Building on the success of that event, our most recent symposium in early 2007 took the title ‘Why the Moon?’ and focused attention on our nearest neighbor recognizing the central role it occupies in the program plans of the main space-faring nations.

Our 12 th Annual Symposium in early 2008, proclaimed by the United Nations as The International Year of Planet Earth, will emphasize the benefits of the space program for society. This time we are asking the question ‘How can space address Earth’s global challenges in the 21st century?’. In this context ‘space’ can be interpreted in a wide sense encompassing observations of our home planet and more distant worlds by human and robotic missions as well as the technologies developed in support of these programs.

As for Earth’s global challenges, we think first of areas where knowledge and technology gained from space are most directly transferable in addressing issues such as climate change and environmental degradation, or impending energy crises and resource depletion. But there are many other potential problems facing our planet, even threatening the very survival of our civilization, if we look at the darker prophecies of scientists such as Lord Rees (‘Our Final Century’) or James Lovelock (‘The Revenge of Gaia’). On the other hand, a more positive view of our future prospects can be found in recent books by William Burroughs (‘The Survival Imperative: Using Space to Protect Earth’) and by Charles Cockell (‘Space on Earth: Saving our World by Seeking Others’).

Professor Cockell, himself an alumnus of ISU’s Summer Session Program, makes the point that “Many environmentalists think going into space detracts from solving problems here on Earth. Many astrophysicists feel environmentalism hampers their exploration and settlement of space. Actually environmentalism and space exploration have one and the same objective: to ensure humanity has a home”. He calls for a fusion of the two movements as the only way forward – and it is that theme that we want to explore at our 12th Annual Symposium. Our objective is to attract members of both the environmental and space communities which, though sometimes seen as being at cross purposes, may well offer different yet complementary solutions to global challenges that we all face.