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The UK Space Agency has published its biennial study into the progress of the UK space sector.


‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ reveals that the sector continues to soar and is currently worth Pounds 11.3 billion to the UK economy, growing at over 7% per year, employing over 34,000 people and supporting a further 65,000 jobs in other sectors.

Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society Strategic Choices for Space – President’s Conference 2014, Minister for Universities, Science and Cities Greg Clark announced the publication of the report and said:

“The UK space sector makes an impressive contribution to the UK economy and has consistently done so over the last decade, virtually doubling in size in financial terms since 2006.

“These figures show that the UK is well placed to meet our ambitious target of 10 per cent of the global space market by 2030. Co-operation between the public and private sector is the foundation for this continued success.”

‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ allows the UK Space Agency to track the progress of the sector and serves as a metric against its ambitions and the targets set in the Space Innovation and Growth Strategy. The latest figures reflect well on the past two years of strategic investment by government in key technological innovations.

Through strategic investment, improved policy and stronger international collaboration in areas with the potential for further growth and high economic return, The UK Space Agency is working to build a supportive environment for the commercial space sector and enabling the UK to fully exploit a growing market for space data and technologies.

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China will launch a new “constellation” of marine surveillance satellites in 2019 to monitor ships, oil rigs, marine disasters and land-based resources.

According to Lin Mingsen, deputy director with the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, the HY-3 “constellation” will include a series of satellites that employ synthetic aperture radar technology, “capable of operating day or night… and in all weather conditions.”

The satellites will be able see meter-long objects from space and generate high-definition imagery of both land and ocean surfaces, Lin said.

He said the satellites would be used to monitor ships and drilling platforms, in addition to marine oil spills, sea ice, ocean waves and surface winds among other features.

“They will play an important role in reinforcing China’s marine rights protection, marine law enforcement and supervision, management of its offshore waters and marine disaster relief and reduction,” Lin said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

© SpaceNews, PARIS — The Venezuelan government on Oct. 5 contracted with China’s satellite- and rocket-export company for construction and launch of an Earth observation satellite in what will be the two nations’ third satellite collaboration.

The contract-signing ceremony was witnessed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and occurred during the National Culture Congress in Caracas. Maduro said the satellite, until now referred to as Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satelite 2, will be named Antonio Jose de Sucre, after a 19th century Venezuelan independence leader.

For Beijing-based China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC), the Venezuelan contract ended a dry spell on export markets. China’s domestic demand is sufficient to keep its Long March rocket series busy, but CGWIC is charged with finding export opportunities. The contracts are usually for the in-orbit delivery of satellites developed in China.

The Venezuelan president’s office, in a post-ceremony statement, said the Sucre satellite would be developed by Venezuelan and Chinese engineers as part of a joint effort.

The satellite’s technical specifications were not immediately available, nor was its launch date aboard the China Long March 2D vehicle.

The contract reinforces China’s position in Latin America, where it has won orders for telecommunications satellites from Bolivia and Venezuela and has an Earth observation satellite series with Brazil.

The large Chinese-built Venesat telecommunications satellite was launched in 2008 but has had little effect on the broader South American market for satellite bandwidth, industry officials have said. Venezuela’s VRSS1 Earth observation satellite was launched in September 2012. It carries an imager capable of detecting objects with a 2.5-meter diameter or larger in black-and-white mode, with a 57-kilometer swath width, when pointing straight down.

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(ESA website) (6 October 2014) With the commissioning of Sentinel-1A completed and the satellite’s transfer to the team in charge of its exploitation, its data are available as of today to all users.

This marks the beginning of the satellite’s operational life, delivering radar coverage for an array of applications in the areas of oceans, ice, changing land and emergency response.

Project Manager Ramón Torres, who led the development team, formally handed over the satellite to the Mission Manager, Pierre Potin.

“The time has arrived for the satellite to exploit its extraordinary capabilities and start helping users,” said Ramón.

“A leap forward from ESA’s earlier Envisat, the unprecedented quality of Sentinel-1A will ensure that all users’ needs are fully met.

“Of course, saying farewell is always difficult, but I am confident that it is in capable and safe hands for the next stage of its journey.”

Launched on 3 April, Sentinel-1A completed commissioning on 23 September – an important process that ensures the satellite, instruments, data acquisition and data processing procedures are working well.

Not only did Sentinel-1A pass these tests and reach its target orbit on 7 August, eight anticollision manoeuvres to avoid space debris were performed during this phase.

The satellite will now begin delivering radar scans for an array of operational services and scientific research.

“My main objective is to ensure that Sentinel-1 fulfils the high expectations from the various operational services and scientific users,” notes Pierre.

“Looking at the satellite and ground segment performance – as demonstrated during the commissioning – as well as the preliminary results achieved so far, I’m confident that the mission will be a great success.”

The satellite will continue to be monitored, operated and controlled from ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

The Sentinels are a new fleet of ESA satellite poised to deliver the wealth of data and imagery that are central to Europe’s Copernicus programme.

By offering a set of key information services for a broad range of applications, this global monitoring programme is a step change in the way we manage our environment, understand and tackle the effects of climate change, and safeguard everyday lives.

Sentinel-1 – a two-satellite constellation – is the first in the series and carries an advanced radar to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface.

Even during commissioning, Sentinel-1A demonstrated its potential in the various applications domains.

Just days after launch, its results were included in maps of the floods that hit Namibia, as well as those in the Balkans the following month. This information was then used by authorities involved in flood response.

Radar images were also used to map the rupture caused by the 24 August earthquake that shook northern California – the biggest the area has seen in 25 years.

The towing of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the west coast of Italy was captured by the radar, demonstrating Sentinel-1’s ability to survey the marine environment.

This and many other services will now start benefiting from Sentinel-1A’s operational status. These include services related to monitoring Arctic sea-ice extent, routine sea-ice mapping, surveillance of the marine environment, monitoring land-surface for motion risks, mapping for forest, water and soil management and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations.

The mission’s contributions will further improve once the satellite’s identical twin, Sentinel-1B, is launched in 2016.

(source: ESA)

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(6Oct2014, Spacenews) PARIS — Europe’s Sentinel-1A radar Earth observation satellite — the first in a series of environment-monitoring spacecraft built for the European Commission’s Copernicus program — on Oct. 6 entered routine operations with its data now freely available, the European Space Agency said.

Sentinel-1A was launched April 3 into a position that forced it to take slightly longer than expected to reach its final, polar low Earth operating orbit. As it climbed into position, the satellite made eight maneuvers to dodge space debris, ESA said.

The satellite is the first dedicated spacecraft for Copernicus, a multibillion-euro (multibillion-dollar) European Commission network of space and ground assets to monitor the environment.

The Copernicus satellites were developed by the 20-nation ESA. The Copernicus network, including the satellites, is owned by the European Commission, which is the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union.

ESA and the European Union are negotiating a legal framework under which Copernicus will be maintained and developed.

Sentinel 1A also will be the first test of Europe’s future European Data Relay Satellite Service, under which Sentinel Earth observation data is relayed, by laser optics, to telecommunications satellites in higher, geostationary to speed data delivery to users. Sentinel-1A will begin testing the data-relay element of the system in the coming weeks through Europe’s AlphaSat satellite.

AlphaSat’s main payload is for commercial L-band mobile communications services by Inmarsat of London. The satellite includes several ESA-furnished technology demonstration payloads, including the laser communications terminal.

Airbus Defence and Space will be operating the data-relay service commercially, pending successful laser-communications trials between Sentinel-1A and AlphaBus, and the signing of an ESA-Commission Copernicus agreement.

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[Via Satellite 09-25-2014] Spire, a fast-paced remote sensing company with roots in Silicon Valley, has leapfrogged from incubation just two years ago at Lemnos Labs into a multi-million dollar startup with four satellites in orbit. Formerly known as Nanosatisfi, the company recently raised $25 million in Series A funding, bringing the total amount raised to $29 million.

The fourth and most recent spacecraft from Spire, Lemur 1, launched aboard a Kosmotras Dnepr rocket this summer. Lemur 1 has validated Spire’s manufacturing process, according to CEO Peter Platzer, paving the way for a constellation that could number 50 or more in the near future.

Spire’s remote sensing satellites range from 1U to 3U and are built with Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components wherever possible to lower costs. The spacecraft carry multiple sensors for customers in 12 verticals spread across North America, Europe and Asia. Speaking to Via Satellite, Platzer said the company has a strong focus on designing both hardware and software as one. This unified approach helps the company maintain its rapid development pace.

“We look at developing the hardware and developing the software as almost the same thing,” said Platzer. “That’s an approach we have that allows us to build additional sensors very quickly. We have literally gone from having an idea to having it on a spacecraft in four months.”

Spire describes itself as a satellite-powered data company, where satellites are the means to solve problems with unique space-based data. This is similar to the way Skybox Imaging has often described itself, where satellites are an enabler rather than the primary focus of the company. Spire, however, differs from Skybox by being a remote sensing company that is not focused on imagery.

“Spire’s lazy,” Platzer joked. “Imaging is a really, really hard market. I have the utmost respect for those that go into imaging.”

Instead, Spire’s multi-sensor satellites provide a variety of data types such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) service for tracking ships, and weather payloads that measure temperature, pressure and precipitation. With this space-based data collection, the company can then amalgamate different data to solve problems on Earth. Platzer said Spire is focused on oceans and very remote areas that “are generally neglected by remote sensing.” This has opened up some surprising markets such as curbing piracy and illegal overfishing. Previously untraceable behavior can now be identified via satellite.

“That is an area that we found where people can do something with our data that simply wasn’t possible before. [For example:] this vessel is fishing in a legal area, but it’s fishing off an illegal fish species. Because, based on the movement and other information we can derive from it, I’m telling you they are fishing for tuna and not for mackerel. They are telling you the fish are mackerel, but they might put the tuna at the bottom and then put the mackerel on top and that’s why we don’t detect it. But by their movements, we can nail them, and we can stop something illegal that threatens our food supply,” he said.

With the most recent round of funding from RRE Ventures, Moose Capital, Quihoo and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Spire has been aggressively hiring to continue scaling up both the size of the company and its future constellation. One of the company’s next steps is to set up an office in Singapore. Platzer said customer demand, human capital, and significant interest from current and future customers influenced the decision.

In preparation for a large constellation, Spire has also contracted with several undisclosed launch providers to carry satellites into orbit. As a mitigation strategy, the company has contracted multiple launch providers in case of a failure, Platzer said. “We have purchased dozens of launch slots for our constellation to deliver our product to our customers in the next 12 months,” he added. These launches distribute between two and eight satellites per rocket.

With a new office, new launch contracts and a new constellation all simultaneously underway, Platzer said the next step is to bring together the right mix of people.

“Approaching the organization from the perspective of an employee, if people ask me where do you see Spire in 10 years my vision is that Spire is the largest organization of collaborative ‘super-stars’ that use data to work on really hard problems that matter. We would probably use satellites still, but we might use a whole bunch of other technologies as well,” he said.

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(September 2014) China will promote the application of satellite earth observation technologies to better serve the economy, officials and experts said.

China has already built a network of satellites and other facilities for earth observation in pursuing its space programs including manned space navigation, lunar probe and Beidou navigation system, but officials said much remains to be done in the actual application of the technology.

Remote sensing via satellites and other technology has played an important role in the national economic and social development, said Xu Dazhe, head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence at a recent conference.

The administration will promote the construction of a high-definition earth observation system and the spatial data infrastructure, he said.

It plans to spend ten years in constructing an earth observation system that integrates use of air, space and ground based technology, including drones, satellites and GPS systems, in order to serve the economic and social development.

“China’s remote sensing application has been undergoing a rapid development. China’s remote sensing satellites have been developed from the phase of experimental application to business service,” Luo Ge, an official with the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, said

He said the number of China’s satellites and the quality of the pictures and data taken by the satellites have been greatly improved.

On August 19, China successfully launched its most advanced earth observation satellite, the Gaofen-2, which is able to see a one-meter-long object from space in full color.

The Gaofen-2 is the second of seven satellites to be launched for China’s indigenous high-definition observation project Gaofen before 2020. The project was initiated in May 2010.

Gaofen-1, the first satellite of the project, was launched in April 2013.

Luan Enjie, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in the area of remote sensing, China has largely relied on foreign satellites, while the launching of Gaofen-1 and Gaofen-2 satellites means the country has entered a new era of independently developing high-definition satellites.

Gu Xingfa, expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said China will launch more high-definition remote sensing satellites in the near future, gradually promote the application of the remote sensing satellites, and reduce its dependence on foreign satellites.

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India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked ISRO to develop a SAARC satellite, which can be gifted by India to the SAARC region. Delivering his speech at Sriharikota spaceport after witnessing PSLV C23 launch he urged ISRO to expand navigation system to all of South Asia.


“Continued progress in space must remain a national mission. We must keep enhancing our space capabilities,” said the Prime Minister who asked the Department of Space, to pro-actively engage with all stakeholders, to maximise use of space science in Governance and Development and also work with Universities and Colleges to attract talents. Stressing the importance of space programme, he noted, space technology has also evolved into an invaluable asset in disaster management. Accurate advanced warning, and tracking of Cyclone Phailin, saved countless lives recently. He also added that GIS has transformed policy planning, implementation, and that space imaging enables modern management, conservation of water resources. He said all these would play a critical role in realising the vision of a Digital India —the power of 125 crore connected Indians.

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(June 30th, By Bordelot and Ayazi) NEREUS ‐ The Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies ‐ is an initiative of 23 regions and 40 associate members with the common objective to spread the use and understanding of space technologies across Europe for the benefit of regions and their citizens.

As a voice of European Regions, NEREUS serves as an advocate for matters relating to the use of space technology and also as a direct channel to regional users (such as local authorities, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), universities and research institutes and citizens). The emphasis of the network is on the use of space technologies for Earth observation and monitoring. NEREUS strives to demonstrate and explain the added value of Space technologies as a tool for problem-solving or meeting challenges at regional levels with a direct impact on the daily lives of citizens.

Copernicus (formerly GMES) is one of the priority fields of network cooperation, which led to the creation of an EO/(GMES) Copernicus Working Group that aims to identify and promote regional priorities within the European Copernicus initiative. Copernicus services provide territorial, oceanographic and atmospheric data for the environmental protection and security of Europe’s citizens. Consequently, Copernicus services have a fundamental economic and social impact at the regional level. Copernicus offers important information regarding the state of coasts, forests, land and atmosphere and provides vital support during civil emergencies and natural disasters.

Since its inception, NEREUS has devoted intense communication efforts to make the public increasingly aware of the benefits of space technologies. Interregional collaboration and interaction has stimulated a number of initiatives, making regional space activities more transparent. For example, in 2011, NEREUS launched its NEREUS Space Exhibition: a mobile and vivid poster presentation of 24 NEREUS regions, enriched with a video, and available in all eight native languages of the network. It showcases regional examples of space applications in different domains (security, civil emergency, agriculture, maritime, etc.). Additionally, in 2012, NEREUS started a productive collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). The first outcome of this collaboration is the production of a publication on 67 uses of Copernicus in Europe’s regions. The publication is meant to be a source of reference for policymakers to understand the social and economic benefits derived from Copernicus services in Europe.

Despite the various Copernicus services and products already available, their take‐up within Local and regional Authorities (LRAs) is still very slow. Against this background, NEREUS and ESA initiated a project titled “Improving GMES/Copernicus take‐up among Local and Regional Authorities via dedicated thematic Workshops.” It aims at launching a dialogue with LRAs, presenting examples of space services and products already available in certain application domains and promoting awareness and learning about possible needs or obstacles for the service deployment. The project is based on the organization of few workshops dedicated to specific topic areas of interest for the European LRAs. In order to identify the workshop topics that are of priority interest for LRAs, an online consultation has been launched

An overall analysis of the outcomes of the series of workshops will be carried out and a final report will be presented and discussed on the occasion of an upcoming event at the European Parliament in Brussels. More information on the project is available here.

In addition to the collaboration with ESA, NEREUS is also a dynamic platform for its members to facilitate their involvement in several EU‐funded activities and mobilize projects and initiatives, often aimed at developing jointly space applications or promoting space uses.

DORIS Net (Downstream Observatory organized by Regions active in Space – Network), was the first EU‐funded project mobilized on the NEREUS platform. Bringing together 13 NEREUS partners, it was nominated as flagship project of the network. The key outcome of the project, which ended in February 2013, is a network of Regional Contact Offices (RCOs) which serve as a meeting/information point among local authorities, providers and potential users of Copernicus services and other stakeholders. Despite the termination of EU‐funding, the RCO‐network still exists and strives to find new ways of funding to ensure its sustainability. Its mission is to increase the use of space technologies, help create business opportunities to demonstrate the broad array of existing Copernicus services at the regional level in Europe, and to boost the use of Copernicus applications. Since July 2011, seven RCOs have been established in NEREUS members regions and some other regions are currently exploring the opportunity to open a new RCO in their territory.

Finally, the dialogue with European institutions is also among the priorities of the network. NEREUS introduces the regional dimension in European space policymaking, and offers a unique platform for regions to share ideas, develop joint strategies, and speak as a sole body with European institutions. As an advocate for regional concerns, NEREUS contributes to the development of new policies and programs.

To quote few examples, with respect to the long and complex debate on the financing of the Copernicus program post -2014 or in the latest EC proposal for a Regulation on establishing a European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus) ; NEREUS played an important role to highlight the regional perspective and extreme need for a broad use of Copernicus data and services across Europe.

In the second half of 2014, NEREUS will organize its annual General Assembly in Brussels. The 6th Assembly will be an occasion to sum up activities carried out and results achieved as well as to plan for upcoming actions and initiatives.

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After the successful launch of the Polar satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-23 carrying a payload of five satellites into orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota by the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set out a proposal for a satellite to be developed and tasked exclusively for operation in Southern Asia.

The aim of such a satellite would be to strengthen the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

ISRO’s successful launch of payloads developed in France, Germany, Singapore and Canada was seen as a “global endorsement of India’s space capabilities,” as the Prime Minister stressed, and consequently suggested the development of a SAARC satellite, which would be used to support disaster management and sustainable development in the region. “We would dedicate this satellite to our neighborhood as India’s gift… We should share the fruit of this with our neighboring countries,” said Narendra Modi as he was congratulating the scientists behind the launch.

India has gained attention as a player in the multi-billion dollar space industry and has successfully launched 35 foreign satellites into orbit to date.

Read full story at International Business Times