Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Company Ltd. (21AT) is the first customer to adopt DMCii’s innovative new satellite services model. Traditionally, a satellite imagery provider would purchase and operate their own satellites.
However, in this case, 21AT will lease from DMCii 100 percent of the imaging capacity of the three high resolution satellites under a seven-year contract. In return, 21AT will receive timely, high resolution (1 metre GSD) satellite imagery with planning and tasking but without the complexity associated with procuring and operating a satellite constellation.
The three satellites will be built and launched for DMCii by U.K. small satellite pioneer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) and are scheduled to be ready for launch in 2014. It is anticipated that more satellites will be added to the constellation as additional capacity is required for DMCii’s international customer base and other early adopters of this unique service model.
The 1m panchromatic and 4m multi-spectral imagery from the DMC3 satellites will provide 21AT’s customers with greatly enhanced data continuity from its current satellite, Beijing-1, and by leasing capacity from three satellites, the company will have the power of the new constellation at its disposal – providing both increased resolution with rapid imaging and revisit. Applications for the imaging service include monitoring China’s land use and land cover changes, and enabling regional governments to plan and monitor the phenomenal rate of urban development in China’s cities. With access to the constellation imaging capacity, 21AT will also be able to provide more rapid imaging of the affected area in the event of a disaster because the time between satellite passes over an area is dramatically reduced.
By combining the coverage from three satellites, the DMC3 constellation will be able to revisit a given area daily, which is crucial for change detection, disaster monitoring and response planning, and essential for acquiring cloud-free imagery. Like its SSTL-300 counterpart, the new 350kg satellite also features advanced avionics and optical systems that make it possible to perform several different types of imaging such as mapping terrain, strip imaging and mosaic imaging for wide areas.
UK-based satellite imagery provider DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) signed a £110m deal with Beijing-based company 21AT, to provide access to high-resolution satellite imagery for its customers during the Chinese premier’s UK visit. 21AT will lease capacity from three new satellites that are to be launched into a new Earth Observation constellation “DMC3” which will be owned and operated by DMCii.
21At President Mme Wu Shuang and DMCii executive Chairman Sir Prof. Martin Sweeting sign landmark agreement