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Since 1986, the “European Space Directory” is published each year in March by ESD Partners, formerly SEVIG PRESS.

It provides the most up-to-date and accurate information and has become over the years THE reference book for any company or institution working with the European space market.
The European Space Directory is endorsed by EUROSPACE and benefits from the technical and moral support of the European Space Agency (ESA).
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Researchers using InSAR satellite images (Envisat ASAR images and TerraSAR-X images) have determined that the geology under the city of Beijing is collapsing due to excessive pumping of groundwater. The imagery revealed that the central business district is subsiding by as much as 11 centimeters each year.

InSAR is a powerful tool for monitoring land subsidence. InSAR derived subsidence rate maps have allowed for a comprehensive spatio-temporal analysis to identify the main triggering factors of land subsidence. Some interesting relationships in terms of land subsidence were found with groundwater level, active faults, accumulated soft soil thickness and different aquifer types.

Th researchers are now working on summarizing the impacts that this level of subsidence will have on the city’s infrastructure.

The city’s groundwater had accumulated for centuries under the dry plain. Wells and pumping have caused the soil to dry out like a sponge and to contract.

The whole city is said to be impacted, but the most dramatic impact is in the city’s Chaoyang district.

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Google has made major upgrades to its popular mapping service Google Maps and its addictive bird’s eye view application, Google Earth, giving them fresh imagery from Landsat 8 satellite and new processing techniques for creating even sharper images.

In an effort to create a cloud-free map of the Earth, Google looked at millions of images and took the clearest pixels to stitch together a cloudless and seamless image.

The new imagery is available across all of Google’s mapping products. To check it out, users simply open up Google Earth or turn on the satellite layer in Google Maps.

Landsat 8 is an American Earth observation satellite that images the whole planet every 16 days, and captures images with greater detail and truer colors than done previously, at an unprecedented frequency, creating twice as many images as Landsat 7 does every day.

The Landsat 8 satellite, which launched into orbit in 2013, is the newest sensor in the US Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA Landsat Program.

Using the same publicly available Earth Engine APIs employed by scientists worldwide, Google mined data from nearly a petabyte of Landsat imagery — more than 700 trillion individual pixels — to choose the best cloud-free pixels.

“To put that in perspective, 700 trillion pixels is 7,000 times more pixels than the estimated number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, or 70 times more pixels than the estimated number of galaxies in the universe,” Chris Herwig, program manager for Google Earth Engine, wrote in a June 27 blog postannouncing the upgrades.

For example, comparing two images of Manhattan in New York City on the company’s Google Maps blog, one can see the difference in detail. In the new view of New York City, details like skyscrapers, building shadows, and baseball and softball fields in Central Park show up with a much higher level of clarity and sharpness.

“Three years ago we introduced a cloud-free mosaic of the world in Google Earth. Today we’re rolling out an even more beautiful and seamless version, with fresh imagery from Landsat 8 satellite and new processing techniques for sharper images than ever before,” Herwig wrote.

Landsat has observed the Earth continuously from 1972 to the present day and offers a wealth of information on the changes to the Earth’s surface over time. Herwig noted the update to Maps and Earth was made possible in a large part thanks to the program and its commitment to free and accessible open data.

The update also allowed Google to fill in some large diagonal gaps in maps that were affected by a hardware failure on Landsat 7 images captured after 2003.

Not one to be left out of the fun, Google’s Street View team, responsible for driving around the world and mapping the world from a human-scaled perspective, has been going on some wild rides of its own as of late, including one to the colorful and exotic Coral Triangle in Asia, home of the richest coral reefs on Earth, and the horrific prison cells of Robben Island, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in solitary confinement before attaining freedom.

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If the malfunction is caused by a hardware failure, there might be no way to repair it, leaving Taiwan dependent on other nations for months

A potential hardware failure on FORMOSAT-2 might cause the nation to lose its first locally developed Earth observation satellite, the National Space Organization (NSPO) said yesterday.

Two of the satellite’s reaction wheels, which are used to rotate and position it, are malfunctioning, so it cannot properly conduct observation or take pictures, NSPO Director Chang Guey-shin (張桂祥) said.

The satellite had made do with three reaction wheels since it lost one in 2013, and the NSPO received abnormal signals from the FORMOSAT-2 on Tuesday last week, which indicated that another reaction wheel had malfunctioned, Chang said.

“At least three properly functioning reaction wheels are needed to control the satellite. The possibility of repair is low if the fault was caused by hardware failure. There would be a better chance of being able to fix the malfunction if it was the electronic interface that went wrong. However, preliminary analysis suggested that hardware failure might be the cause,” he said.

The satellite was put in “safe mode,” and its missions were suspended pending further analysis and repair attempts.

It will take two or three weeks for experts to analyze the problems and propose solutions.

“The satellite’s condition was more stable than a few days ago. We feared that the FORMOSAT-2 might lose power because its solar panels did not point to the sun accurately. However, the problem was fixed, and we have more time to understand the reaction wheel problems,” Chang said.

“If the satellite cannot be repaired and has to be decommissioned, there would be no Taiwan-made satellite orbiting the Earth for a few months until FORMOSAT-5 is launched. The launch is expected to take place in California in autumn, but the date remains uncertain,” he said.

During the window period in which the nation might not have any functioning satellite, Taiwan would have to ask for international assistance in satellite monitoring in the event of a natural disaster, National Applied Research Laboratories’ Wang Jough-tai (王作臺) said.

FORMOSAT-2 was launched in May 2004, and it has taken 2.55 million pictures of the planet’s surface, each of which covers an area four times the size of Taiwan.

The satellite provided valuable images for scientific research, environmental monitoring, natural disaster prevention and evaluation, urban planning and other applications for the past 12 years.

However, it was designed to last only five years, so the malfunction was not unexpected, Wang said.

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NASA is seriously planning robotic service mission on Low Earth Orbit. Since 2009 all NASA efforts which are referring to refueling, tuning or servicing satellites in space are developed by Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO). This institution remaining inside NASA is able to use all necessary Technologies developed by Agency to reach its ultimate goal. This objective is to create affordable technology which could be used by U.S. space industry to become a leader in servicing satellite in orbit and change experimental status of present technology to something which is utilized regularly and commercially available.

One of the key programs developed by SSCO was Restore-L; it is planned mission of robotic spacecraft which will be equipped in various instruments helping in refueling other satellite in space. In spite of main objective of testing technology of autonomic rendez vous, docking (basically catching other spacecraft with special robotic arm) and refueling, it is planned to be utilized in future space exploration planned by NASA including manned mission to Mars, Asteroid Redirect Mission or Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission.

It seems that works on Restore-L are quite advanced, because in May 2016 NASA decided about moving forward in time first experimental mission. New date was set for 2020, and recently on June 23, 2016, it was announced that first object of experiment was chosen. It will be Landsat-7, Earth observation satellite manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Launched on April 15, 1999. Weighing 2200 kg satellite was placed on orbit on almost circular orbit with following parameters: 669 km x 698 km with inclination at 98.2°. Landsat-7 was operated jointly by NASA, NOAA and US Geological Survey; data provided by satellite containing high resolution pictures were utilized for general monitoring, dISAster relief, cartography and planning.

Restore-L spacecraft will be equipped in autonomous navigation system and avionics which will be used during flight and rendez vous. This system was named RAVEN (Relative Navigation System-upgraded version of ARGON system tested in 2013 under MISSE-7 and STP-H4 programs) and will based on computers, cameras and proximity sensors; system will be heavily complicated due the fact that rendez vous will be performed with speed at least of 16000 km/h and necessary course corrections will be performed in real time. Spacecraft will be also equipped with robotic arm and special set of tools and sensors to perform refueling (it is worth to remind that Landsat-7 was not equipped with any special valve for in orbit refueling). Robotic arm was not designed from the scratch, but its construction was based on DARPA Spacecraft for the Universal Modification of Orbits and Front-end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration (FREND) project which was developed in the mid-2000. Arm will be equipped in multiple joints to provide seven degrees of freedom combined with force and torque sensors in the end of arm. Equipping arm with cameras will provide full control of the refueling and attaching process. Next important part of the Restore-L is refueling system called Propellant Transfer System (PTS). Its construction is based on oxidizer tank, pumps, flow, temperature and pressure sensors, special hose (first tests in low gravity were performed already in 2013) and oxidizer nozzle tool. System will operate with high pressure providing fast, bubble free, and requiring very little power flow from Restore-L oxidizer tank to Landsat-7. Refueling nozzle is designed to operate with Landsat-7 valve which was not originally designed to be opened in space. It will provide sealed connection during refueling and next it will close properly valve of satellite to avoid leakage. Restore-L will be powered with solar arrays and will be equipped for propulsion to perform rendez vous. Still detaILS on propulsion were not unveiled but surely it will be throttable propulsion with possibility of multiple burns combined with advanced maneuver thrusters system.

Restore-L will be first mission in history which covers refueling on Low Earth Orbit. Commercial companies like Orbital ATK offer similar solutions for GEO satellites (Orbital ATK have signed already contract for refueling satellites operated by Intelsat with first mission ot their MEV in 2019). GEO satellites are usually large and expensive spacecrafts, and their operators are interested in investing money in refueling technology in spite of costs, because price for new satellites is also very high. Satellites operating on LEO are often research satellites which are extremely useful, but commercial companies are not interested in independent development of refueling technology due the low probability of refunding such investment. NASA effort will be surely support for space industry, not to mention about obvious savings for NASA or DoD.

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26, May 2016, DOHA: The Arab Committee of UN experts on Geographical Information System (GIS) management yesterday concluded its second meeting held for two days at Hilton Doha.

It was organised by the Geographical Information System Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to seek approval for unified standards for geo-information and setting up a unified work plan to accomplish rule components for geographical data and unified conditions.

The members of the committee, who represent nine countries, discussed suggestions on renewal and development of geo-information. It discussed suggestions related to land cover, infrastructure, border, altitudes, geographical names, transport networks, flat graphics, statistical units and water layers.

The participating countries are seeking to come out, through the UN initiative, to establish a unified global entity for the management of geo-information and unifying such data from different areas.

This, according to the initiative, will help the UN and other countries identify areas in case of crises or natural disasters which require fast relief by making the data accessible for all and continuously updating it.

The committee aims to develop technical work of geo-information focusing on four areas — studying the rules and regulations related to geo-information; identifying common reference for developing geo-information; considering the basic infrastructure of geo-information; and means of integrating geo-information and statistical data, said Saad bin Mohammad Al Hamlan, Director, Surveying Information System (SIS) at Tourism Authority of Saudi Arabia.

The committee, one of the five UN regional entities started work in 2014 in Riyadh, Al Hamlan added. The other four are the European, African, Asian, and two Americas committees.

The Arab committee which has four sub-committees will be hosted by Qatar next year said Al Emadi.The Peninsula

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(May 23rd, 2016) In April 2016 START Program Specialist, Senay Habtezion, attended the first Symposium of the AfriGEOSS Initiative where earth observation experts met to discuss data access and dissemination across the African continent. Senay wrote a brief update in START’s quarterly newsletter. More details and outcomes from the event are now available in this press release from the symposium organizers.

Geneva – More than two dozen African nations committed to mobilizing the Earth observation community to contribute to the implementation of the Africa Space Policy and Strategy, adopted by African Heads of State at the 26th African Union Summit held in January, 2016. That was one of the primary outcomes of the first Symposium of the AfriGEOSS Initiative, hosted by the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ) on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe, which took place from 27 – 29 April in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

AfriGEOSS, an initiative of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), was formed in 2014 to coordinate access to and use of Earth observations – from satellites, airborne and ground- and marine-based systems – across the African continent. The 27 AfriGEOSS members are focusing their efforts on data access and dissemination, forest management, food security, urban planning and water resources management, as well as contributing to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in Africa.

The 1st AfriGEOSS Symposium, “Earth Observations for the Africa We Want”, concentrated on ensuring that AfriGEOSS activities respond to the broader African agendas and objectives, including the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. Minister Ambassador S.K. Moyo of Zimbabwe opened the proceedings stating that, “Earth Observation and Geo-Information Science provide ample tools to tackle issues to do with the prediction and response to natural disasters such as droughts and floods.” Moyo cited the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments which rate Africa as most vulnerable to changes in climate, adding that “Earth Observation is of critical value to the planet.”

Additional outcomes of the symposium include a commitment to establish national GEO mechanisms in the AfriGEOSS nations to leverage existing Earth observations investments, as well as improve the use of Earth observations for evidence-based policy formulation and decision-making. The participants also pledged to improve communication and outreach to the broader society about the value and benefits of Earth observations to the daily lives of people across the continent.

GEO Director Barbara J. Ryan stated she was “humbled by the level of work underway by the AfriGEOSS countries and partners,” and urged all of the national and regional institutions to contribute their data resources to GEO’s global data infrastructure “to broaden African access to, and dissemination of, critical Earth observation data.”

In closing remarks, Dr Philemon Mjwara, Director General of the South African Department of Science and Technology, noted, “As Africans we have demonstrated that passion, as shown in the last three days, even without financial resources, can make things happen,” and pledged that the AfriGEOSS leadership “shall go out and secure the financial resources so that the ideas coming out of the symposium are realised and AfriGEOSS is implemented.”

  • The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is a voluntary partnership of governments and organizations that envisions “a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations”. GEO membership includes 102 Member governments and 95 Participating Organizations comprised of international bodies with a mandate in Earth observations. Together, the GEO community is creating a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) that will link Earth observation resources world-wide across multiple Societal Benefit Areas – Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability; Disaster Resilience; Energy and Mineral Resources Management; Food Security; Infrastructure & Transportation Management; Public Health Surveillance; Sustainable Urban Development; and Water Resources Management – and make those resources available for informed decision-making.

Download full press release here

Contact: Katy Anderson; +41 22 730 8429; kanderson@geosec.org
GEO Secretariat: 7 bis, avenue de la Paix • Case postale 2300 • CH-1211 Geneva 2 • Switzerland
Tel: + 41 (0) 22 730 85 05 • Fax: +41 (0)22 730 85 20 • secretariat@geosec.org

With the growing need for interdisciplinary approaches to address environmental and social issues, Earth observations are becoming an increasingly valuable resource. The versatility of Earth observations enables their application to a variety of decision-making situations. With this increased use, there has been emerging interest in quantifying the impacts from these applications. As a capacity-building program that utilizes NASA Earth observations, NASA’s DEVELOP National Program has begun to explore such assessments.

The DEVELOP Program is a dual capacity-building program in which teams of participants conduct rapid 10-week feasibility projects with partner organizations to assist in environmental and policy decision-making. Located within the Applied Sciences’ Capacity Building Program in NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, DEVELOP seeks to build capacity in its participants and partners to use NASA’s Earth observations for decision-making.

DEVELOP projects apply NASA Earth observations to a broad range of problems in diverse focus areas, including water resources, agriculture, disaster management, and ecological forecasting. As each project is designed to assist a particular partner organization in its decision-making process, projects vary in scope, design, and satellite data utilized.

As a result, there is no “fixed” set of indicators that encompasses all relevant impacts of all projects. Rather, a flexible toolkit of shared indicators and individualized approaches is needed to capture the diverse outcomes of these projects, while still allowing for comparability of the projects. This has been done through the creation of pre-and post-project partner assessments that capture partner needs, capabilities, and expectations. This provides both baseline data and an overview of project impacts on partners. Selected projects are then individually assessed in greater detail through partner follow-ups and research into the quantification of project impacts utilizing interdisciplinary approaches to fit each project.

In addition, to build broader public awareness of the applications of NASA Earth observing data, DEVELOP has partnered with Earthzine to host Virtual Poster Sessions (VPS) since 2011. Each VPS includes short videos created by each DEVELOP project that summarizes the community concerns, methodology, NASA data used, and highlights how the partner organization will apply the project results in its decision-making.

DEVELOP Partners

DEVELOP partners with a variety of organizations including government (local, state, and federal), nonprofits, academic, and international organizations. Besides addressing a variety of decisions, partners face challenges of using Earth observations for decision-making due to varying levels of remote sensing experience.

Through its projects, DEVELOP seeks to build capacity in its partners by highlighting what NASA space-borne and airborne remote sensing data exist, providing information on how to access the data, expanding their knowledge of how NASA Earth observations can be used in decision-making and demonstrating applications of its use. To help ascertain how well this is being accomplished, partners are given assessments before and after the project to assess needs, capabilities, and expectations.

Pre- and Post-Assessments in the Project Timeline

The pre- and post-assessments have been incorporated into the DEVELOP project timeline. Once a partnership is initiated, a project proposal is developed between the DEVELOP team that will be conducting the project and the partner to ensure that the project will address a particular need of that partner.

The proposal is then approved by the DEVELOP National Program Office and NASA Applied Sciences Program management, and the pre-assessment is given to the partner to gather additional information about the partner’s needs and capabilities that can be used to further tailor the project. The assessment also provides baseline data on the partner’s capacity that can be compared to the post-assessment, after the project is completed.

The team then conducts the project with continued engagement of the partner through regular communication (e.g., teleconferences, emails), and depending on the project, other activities such as fieldwork, to provide regular updates on the project and allow for partner feedback on ensuring the project meets the partner’s needs. For example, DEVELOP team in Mobile, Alabama, recently partnered with the Padre Island National Seashore of the National Park Service (NPS) to investigate the potential effects of increasing mesquite trees on estuary health.

Throughout the project, the DEVELOP team and the NPS partner communicated weekly during which the team discussed project progression and the partner provided his subject expertise and feedback. At the end of the project, the end products and tutorials are given to the partner for implementation and use. The partner is then given the post-assessment to evaluate their current capacity, project experience, and utilization of the end products. From the post-assessments, partners are selected to follow up with for more in-depth discussions of the impacts resulting from their use of the end products.

Selected Partner Follow-Ups

Each project is designed to focus on a partner’s particular decision-making needs and therefore has a specific application it is addressing. This creates a wide variety of impacts to quantify and makes comparing impacts across projects challenging. To address this, DEVELOP uses the pre- and post-assessments for all partners, and then follows up with individual partners to discuss one-on-one how they are using project tools in their decision-making. For example, the DEVELOP team at NASA’s Stennis Space Center partnered with local groups in southeastern Louisiana that were working to address the issues of storm surge on coastal parishes by planting trees, as greater vegetation lessens the storm surge effects. The team developed site suitability maps for planting trees, which helped the partners focus their resources during the decision process to determine where to plant about 700 baldcypress and 100 live oaks in 2013-2014.

Next Steps

DEVELOP is working to improve its systematic assessment of impacts for following up with partners, as well as increasing the overall response rates of partners. Future statistical analyses also will serve to improve the robustness of results to date.

DEVELOP is continuing to systematize its impact assessments through a Project Strengths Index, a rubric modeled after NASA’s Applied Readiness Levels (ARLs) for measuring a project’s strengths and progress. An additional challenge lies in determining the appropriate schedule for allowing partners the time to implement the end products, while maintaining the partner relationship in order to actualize impact from product implementation.

Considerations and Limitations

While DEVELOP has begun to see successes in this process, there are several limitations to consider. As “capacity building” is a broad concept, how this term is operationalized affects how and what impacts are assessed. Often the end products that DEVELOP projects produce are meant to be one tool in a decision-maker’s toolbox of resources to address a particular decision. As a result, distinguishing the level of effect of each of the many facets used in a decision is a complicated endeavor. Adding the timeframe needed to see the outcome of decisions makes this process even more complex. In addition, the reliance of self-reporting as the primary method of data collection needs to be considered. Furthermore, a low partner response rate has limited the response pool available for analysis. Low response rates are being improved by setting clearer expectations at the beginning of partnerships. In addition, the “newness” of the assessments means only a limited pool of partners has completed all steps.

Conclusions

Overall, the standardized pre- and post-assessments allow for a measurement of capacity built in partners through the course of the project, as well as comparison between partners. Challenges remain in assessing the impacts of implemented project end products, which are varied and require a longer timeline for evaluation. Combining these assessments with individualized follow-up interviews allows for better understanding of impacts on individual partners. Although more work needs to be done to improve this process, DEVELOP continues to seek and pursue efforts to measure the impact of using NASA Earth observations as a resource for decision-making by its partners.

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The request for across-the-board increases in fiscal year 2017 also seeks to improve water monitoring and terrain mapping, downsize infrastructure, and grow operations in support of scientific work.

In its latest budget proposal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) aims for a significant boost to the nation’s satellite Earth-observing capabilities, better protections for communities against the risks of earthquakes and geomagnetic storms, and major improvements to monitoring water use during droughts. These represent a few highlights of a proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget of $1.169 billion that would grow about 10% over the FY 2016 enacted level if Congress approves the agency’s request.

To enhance Earth observation from space, USGS would increase funding for the Landsat 9 Earth-observing satellite to $19.7 million, an increase of $15.4 million, which would help move up the spacecraft’s launch date to 2021 from 2023. A follow-on mission to Landsat 8, Landsat 9 will provide a direct but improved replacement for the still-orbiting Landsat 7 satellite, according to USGS.

“We are in lock step in planning with NASA and the Landsat science team to accelerate the launch date and design of the instruments and delivery of those for launch in 2021,” said Virginia Burkett, USGS associate director for climate and land use change, at an 11 February briefing about the agency’s FY 2017 funding proposal, which was released on 9 February.

Other budgeting related to Earth-viewing satellites includes $2.2 million in new funding to acquire data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites and $2.99 million in new funds to develop computing and online storage resources to produce and disseminate Landsat-based information products.

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by Emily Calandrelli (@TheSpaceGal). Astro Digital, a satellite imaging and imagery analysis company, released the newest version of their image processing software today. Anyone can access their software, for free, and retrieve satellite imagery of any area on Earth. The company also offers an API that developers can use to incorporate satellite data into their products.

The software itself compiles global satellite imagery and allows users to select specific areas of the Earth to monitor over time. Users are notified each time a new satellite image comes in for their specified area.

With this tool, Astro Digital hopes to create a user-friendly platform that enables customers to easily understand and make use of terabytes worth of satellite data.

Currently, Astro Digital has leveraged open data initiatives like LandSat to fill their database. Eventually, however, the company plans to use imagery from their own satellites. To date, they’ve tested 2 satellites in space and are scheduled to launch 4 new satellites later this year.

“By the end of this year, we will have the ability to monitor all agricultural land in the U.S. every day.”- Bronwyn Agrios, Head of Product at Astro Digital

The commercial Earth-observation space is certainly getting crowded. With companies like Planet Labs and Alphabet’s Skybox Imaging leading the way, there are more private satellites imaging the Earth than ever before. In 2016, 92 commercial Earth-observation satellites are scheduled to be placed in orbit, which is 10 times more than the number in 2013.

Satellite imagery contributes to weather forecasts, disaster relief, climate modeling, population analysis, and crop monitoring. The images are especially useful when you can watch how specific areas on the globe change over time.

For example, with new images of the Earth provided daily or even weekly, the effects of a drought could be kept in check, we could track the spread of wildfires, or farmers could analyze how different agriculture strategies affect their crop yield.

This real time picture of the Earth is nearly a reality. As more private satellites come online, the commercial Earth-observation industry starts to encounter a new challenge: How do you package terabytes of Earth imagery in a way that works for paying customers?

This is where Astro Digital comes in. The company plans to set itself apart from other satellite imaging companies by offering the best platform for image processing, storage, distribution and access. Essentially, they want to make incorporating space into any business quick and easy.

Bronwyn Agrios, the Head of Product at Astro Digital, told TechCrunch that they’ve established themselves in this industry by focusing on the software just as much, if not more, than the hardware.

“The pixels are going to be commodified, so we’re going beyond just pretty pictures.” – Bronwyn Agrios, Head of Product at Astro Digital

However, Astro Digital isn’t the only imagery analysis player in this space. The company Descartes Labs conducts historical analysis of imagery to predict crop yields, Orbital Insight has developed machine learning algorithms that are used to track and predict the capacity of parking lots and even construction in China, and satellite operators like Planet Labs offer their own software products for their customers.

Agrios, who previously worked at Planet Labs and ESRI, said that Astro Digital is unique in that they will provide live monitoring to customers. They’re set up in such a way that allows them to process and deliver imagery to their customers in real time as soon as one of their satellites downlinks new data.

They’re also unique in that their software platform is easily accessible right from their main website and free to anyone. Other companies also offer APIs, but they’re not readily available on their websites without a paid subscription or submitting a request for access.

However, the free version only allows users to access a limited volume of content. To monitor larger areas of land over longer periods of time, a paid subscription is required.

By using their software, people can select an area of the Earth and retrieve satellite images processed to show any of 4 attributes: true color, vegetation density, urban growth, and land/water borders. When satellites downlink new data for your selected area, you are notified automatically.

Astro Digital was co-founded by Agrios in January of 2015. She said the company is working to ensure that as soon as their satellites are launched and commissioned, they’ll already have a fully functioning processing pipeline and customer facing platform.

In just over a year, the company has employed 21 engineers and received 6 million in seed funding. They will seek out Series A funding once construction of their first satellites is complete.

Astro Digital plans to improve and iterate their software as they get feedback from users. New versions of their software will be released every 2 weeks with major releases every 3 months.

As more companies begin to incorporate satellite imagery into their business, the way that data is packaged and delivered will become increasingly important. One can only image the globe in so many different ways. Providing useful analysis on top of that data and creating slick, user-friendly platforms to present that analysis is sure to generate an entirely new wave of competition in the space industry.

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