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A symposium April 27 to 29, 2016 in Zimbabwe offers an opportunity for experts in environmental and development planning, disaster risk reduction and food security to unlock the power of Earth observation tools to make better decisions.

These areas of knowledge will be explored by experts at the AfriGEOSS Symposium 2016 through existing tools and governance structures as follows:

  • Towards a harmonized land cover for Africa with medium and high resolution in support of Environmental management.
  • Monitoring of tropical forests to measure report and verify deforestation and the effect on carbon gas emissions.
  • Earth observation-based crop yield estimation, crop growth and production monitoring and forecasting systems for countries in Africa.

Theme
“Earth Observations for the Africa We Want”

Objectives

  • Understand the role of Earth Observations in the implementation of African policies for sustainable development
  • Identify means and ways for mainstreaming Earth Observations in the decision making processes in Africa
  • Review the AfriGEOSS implementation approach and develop a detailed technical and financial programme
  • Building synergies with GEO initiatives and international initiatives relevant to Africa with continental initiatives

Hosted by Research Council of Zimbabwe

Brochure

You can visit the symposium website for more details and registration by clicking here

Katy Anderson
Communications Manager
Group on Earth Observations
Email: kanderson@geosec.org

The Russian Resurs-P No.3 satellite continues its in-orbit testing campaign and delivered its first photos of the planet, despite problems with one of the satellite’s solar arrays that failed to fully deploy shortly after launch.

Now in its operational orbit, the satellite will continue commissioning and calibration for several weeks before joining the Resurs-P No.1 and 2 satellites as part of the operational satellite constellation.

The 5,700-Kilogram Resurs-P No.3 satellite soared into orbit on 13 March atop a Soyuz 2-1B rocket making a nighttime liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Soyuz dropped the satellite off in the expected elliptical transfer orbit after a flawless ascent mission and Resurs-P No.3 completed its first steps in orbit while still flying over Russian ground stations.

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[Satnews] The Sentinel-3A Earth observation satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor on behalf of the European Space Agency for the European Commission’s Copernicus program, has reached the stage when all of the satellite’s instrument are operating and transmitting their scientific data, in line with the expectations for this global ocean and land monitoring mission

Sentinel-3A was launched on February 16 of this year and is now operating nominally and all instruments are activated. The OLCI (Ocean and Land Color Instrument), which transmitted its first image on February 29, is designed to measure ocean and land colors, in bandwidths ranging from visible to near infrared.

The SLSTR (Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer) has also transmitted data in line with expectations, starting on March 2 in visible bandwidths, then, after a scheduled decontamination, on March 22 in all bandwidths up to infrared.

The SRAL (SAR Altimeter) has been transmitting data since March 2, while the MWR (Microwave Radiometer), activated on February 29, provides complementary data for the satellite’s surface topography mission.

However, the satellite has not been officially commissioned, as a number of validation and calibration tests must still be performed during the coming months. The on orbit acceptance review and validation of level-1 products allowing the start of Sentinel-3 nominal operations are planned for July 2016.

Source

The Commercial UAV Expo published a free report, UAVs in Precision Agriculture, which describes how drone/UAS/UAV technology is reshaping how farmers and growers perform crop scouting, nutrient management, field mapping, drainage assessment and more.

The report also looks at the potential impact of new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, the latest in UAS sensor technology, and some of the best ways to start working with UASs in a rapid timeframe.

Download the free report here

[Via Satellite 04-05-2016] MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has signed two contracts with Thales Alenia Space for four subsystems to be installed on the Sentinel 6A, 6B, 3C, and 3D environmental monitoring satellites. The subsystems are dedicated to the satellites’ altimetry instruments and provide the satellites with the capability to measure the distance to Earth from the satellite, enabling capabilities such as mapping ocean-surface topography.

The Sentinel satellites are part of Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. MDA’s two contracts have a combined value of $4.9 million (4.3 million euros).

Commercialisation is the process of turning products and services into a commercially viable value. Concerning Intellectual Property (IP), this term can be more specifically defined as the process of bringing IP to the market in view of future profits and business growth.

Commercialisation is the process of turning products and services into a commercially viable value. Concerning Intellectual Property (IP), this term can be more specifically defined as the process of bringing IP to the market in view of future profits and business growth.

It is certainly not an easy task to manage IP commercialisation as the success of this process depends on several internal and external factors such as business objectives, type of IP as well as economic and intellectual resources. In addition, since IP can be commercialised either directly by its owner, through an assignment or by building up business partnerships, the selection of the most appropriate tool is often challenging, especially for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The purpose of the guide is to provide basic facts on Intellectual Property (IP) aspects in commercialisation activities.

Be aware of the following fact sheets provided by the IPR Helpdesk:
Commercialising Intellectual Property: Internal Product Development
How to Search for Patent Information
How to Search for Trade Marks
Design Searching
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms
Defending and Enforcing IP

Your Guide to IP commercialisation

(3 May 2016, Brussels) The European Commission organises a second workshop dedicated to Access to Finance for European space industry

The workshop will focus on:

  • Next steps for space in the context of the Union’s Investment Plan;
  • Awareness raising regarding private investment sources (Business Angels, Venture Capital funds) to support entrepreneurship;
  • Links with the upcoming programming cycle of Horizon 2020 and COSME and synergies with the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF);
  • Outreach and advisory services for space relying on existing networks.

This workshop is aimed at public and private space sector representatives and will be an opportunity to discuss and exchange views about tools for access to finance for start-ups, established SMEs and larger companies.

High-level speakers from the Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA), national public institutions, Business Angels, Venture Capital Firms and Industry will share their experience and animate the discussion.

Agenda and registration details will be provided soon.

previous workshop

Even if they don’t know the term “geospatial” more and more people are using geospatial technology in their daily lives. From hailing an Uber to finding the nearest Starbucks, geoinformation has permeated almost every aspect of our lives.

Even pictures you take with your smart phone are geotagged. In an increasingly interconnected world, spatial relationships are revolutionizing the way we visualize data. Today, thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones, tablets and wearable gadgets, technologies like global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and remote sensing are no longer exclusive to defense and homeland security; they are becoming integral parts of our daily lives.

Hexagon President and CEO, Ola Rollén, recognizes this trend. “The explosion of geospatial data is outpacing even what the experts predicted,” he said. “Since more everyday products have become geospatially enabled, everything now has a geospatial component.” Other forward thinking IT companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, etc., are following this trend and buying up core geospatial firms that offer location-based services they can incorporate into their products.

An increasing number of businesses are nontraditional geospatial consumers are coming to recognize that location-based intelligence and analytics can boost their performance and help them better understand their customers. With the increasing demand for readily available, consistent, accurate, complete and current information, geospatial applications have become the primary tool for accessing sophisticated geographic information, and transform the raw data into actionable, authoritative intelligence.

From data collection to data management to dynamic information services

For years we struggled to get our hands on enough data to answer the questions we had about our changing world. Today, we have the inverse problem: with mobile laser scanners, mobile mapping, and the explosion of minisat and UAV data, we are recording so much of the earth’s surface every day that we have a hard time finding the piece we need in the deluge of data. We need applications that can not only organize the constant stream of fresh data, but access it on the fly and deliver it rapidly to decision-makers, helping them quickly sense, decide and act as the earth changes.
This need for storage and access of large amounts of data lead to many to the usage of cloud computing. Acting as a centralized repository, the cloud can make this data available instantaneously available to consumers across the globe. The ability to run accurate and rapid field-based analysis that produces immediately actionable information is the key to success in all businesses. There are a wide variety of how businesses and governments are currently leveraging innovative apps on Cloud platforms.

→ Smart Governance: Government agencies can utilize crowd-sourced feedback and notifies local or state government agencies with detailed information in less than a minute about the feedback from citizens.
→ Intelligent Navigation: The shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line, especially when transporting over-size/overweight loads. You need intelligent systems that provide the best route for your cargo.
→ Smart Transportation: The basic spatial network of all roads and their properties need to be tagged and made intelligent to be used in a number of applications, from Intelligent Traffic Management systems to Advanced Driver Assistance systems and Telematics to deciding when to upgrade and repave the road network.

See more at

UrtheCast Corp. today announced the establishment of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

In June 2015, UrtheCast announced its plans to build, launch and operate the world’s first fully-integrated, multispectral optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) commercial constellation of Earth Observation satellites, which is now known as OptiSARTM. The OptiSARTMconstellation is expected to comprise 16 satellites (8 optical and 8 SAR) flying in two orbital planes, with each plane consisting of four satellite pairs, equally-spaced around the orbital plane. Each pair of satellites will consist of a dual-mode, high-resolution optical satellite (video and pushbroom) and a dual-band high-resolution SAR satellite (X-band and L-band), flying in tandem. By employing two orbital planes, the OptiSARTM constellation is expected to allow for maximum revisit rates in the mid-latitudes, while providing global coverage extending to the poles. The Company expects to deploy the OptiSARTM constellation over multiple launches and to begin operations in 2020. The constellation is expected to provide unmatched space-imaging capabilities, enhancing support to NGA’s national security mission and the broader global remote sensing community.

UrtheCast has established a CRADA with NGA to focus research and development (R&D) efforts to maximize the operational effectiveness of the OptiSARTM constellation. In partnering with NGA, the Company’s primary R&D areas will include:

  • Multi-Source Fusion: Exploitation Tools, Services & Analytic Processes
  • Improving/Ensuring Metric Accuracy
  • Optimizing Collection & Dissemination Strategies

This CRADA will allow UrtheCast to work closely with an experienced user and make early changes to its systems architecture, if deemed appropriate. The specific R&D under these areas will support UrtheCast’s government and commercial customer base.

UrtheCast’s President, CEO and co-founder, Wade Larson, said: “Our work on the OptiSARTMconstellation gives us confidence that it will bring unprecedented capabilities to this industry. We couldn’t be more pleased with the progress we’re making and are thrilled with the opportunity to partner with NGA on these critical R&D activities. We believe this CRADA will enhance OptiSAR’s ability to support our overall customer base.”

About UrtheCast Corp.

UrtheCast Corp. is a Vancouver-based technology company that serves the rapidly evolving geospatial and geoanalytics markets with a wide range of information-rich products and services. The Company currently operates four Earth Observation sensors in space, including two cameras aboard the International Space Station and two satellites, Deimos-1 and Deimos-2. Imagery and video data captured by these sensors are downlinked to ground stations across the planet and displayed on UrtheCast’s cloud-based web platform, or distributed directly to partners and customers. UrtheCast is also developing and anticipates launching the world’s first fully-integrated constellation of multispectral optical and SAR satellites, called OptiSARTM, which the Company believes will revolutionize monitoring of our planet with high quality, high resolution, and high revisit imagery in all weather conditions, any time of day. Common shares of UrtheCast trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ticker ‘UR’.

For more information, visit UrtheCast’s website at www.urthecast.com.

LONDON—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global remote sensing satellite market report. This research report also lists five other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period.

Competitive vendor landscape

The global remote sensing satellite market is highly competitive, and vendors compete based on cost, product quality, reliability, and aftermarket service. To survive and succeed in such an intensely competitive environment, it is crucial for vendors to provide cost-effective and high-quality satellite systems with latest technology and materials. The emergence of advanced satellite technologies and systems has transformed the space industry.

Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi Electric are the two leading vendors in the market. Their focus is primarily on the implementation of lightweight materials, more of electric technologies, and robust systems. “Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for a number of major US military satellite programs. Mitsubishi Electric ranks second due to the development of both the IGS and the Quasi-Zenith spacecraft,” says Abhay Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for space sector.

Top five remote sensing satellite market vendors

Airbus Defence and Space

Airbus Defence and Space was founded in 2014 after the restructuring of its parent company, the Airbus Group. It is headquartered in Toulouse, France. The company had 38,000 employees as of December 2014. It reported net revenue of USD 16.9 billion in FY2014.

The company engages in the design, development, and operating space systems ranging from launchers to the in-orbit delivery of satellites, planetary, deep-space missions, and activities in International Space Station’s capabilities enhancement programs. The company designs and manufactures space systems and satellite communications products that are used by various governments and institutions.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies

Ball Aerospace & Technologies was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The company designs, develops, and manufactures aerospace systems. The company operates as a subsidiary of Ball Corporation. The company serves defense and civilian government agencies and commercial customers.

Ball Aerospace has been offering high-resolution imagery data gathering capability in collaboration with a US-based space imagery and geospatial content provider, DigitalGlobe since the mid-90s. It has integrated a fleet of remote sensing satellites that are used for advanced geospatial solutions and commercial earth observation.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, US. The company engages in the R&D, production, and supply of advanced technology systems, products, and services to global defense and aerospace industries.

The company, through its space segment, engages in the design, development, and production of satellites and transportation systems. It collaborates with various governments, military organizations, and commercial customers for developing an extensive array of remote sensing, meteorological, navigation, and communication satellites.

Mitsubishi Electric

Mitsubishi Electric was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical and electronic systems and products across the globe.

Since 1960, the company has been associated with space technology development programs in Japan. It has participated in various payloads and bus components development programs across the globe. It has supplied the TURKSAT 4B satellite to the International Launch Services (a US-Russian joint venture) and eventually the satellite was launched into orbit on October 18, 2015.

Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67% share) and Italy-based aerospace company, Finmeccanica (33%). The company engages in the development of space telecommunication, earth observation, and navigation products, as well as orbital infrastructures. The company has an operation in over eight countries.

Thales Alenia Space designs, develops, and manufactures a comprehensive space system that is used for both commercial and government applications across the world. It provides remote sensing systems such as satellites, platforms, and payloads for defense, civilian, and dual-use applications.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.
Contacts
Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
US: +1 630-333-9501
UK: +44 208 123 1770
Media & Marketing Executive
www.technavio.com