First Images from SPOT 6 Satellite

Toulouse, France (SPX) Sep 21, 2012

Bora Bora.

Astrium Services has posted the first images from the SPOT 6 satellite, just 3 days after its launch on 9 September.
SPOT 6 will assure continuity of data from the series of satellites operating since 1986, along with many technological innovations.
Its unique responsiveness and acquisition capacity are set to benefit a broad spectrum of operational applications. These first images present very varied landscapes, highlighting SPOT 6's potential for applications like urban and natural resource mapping or agricultural and environmental monitoring.
The wide imaging swath (60km), identical to that of the other SPOT satellites, makes SPOT 6 an ideal tool for covering vast territories, while its 1.5m resolution - against 2.5m on SPOT 5 - enables it to distinguish smaller features than ever before.
To post the images, all operational systems swung smoothly into action, from satellite tasking to image acquisition, reception and processing. In January 2014, the arrival of SPOT 7 will bring more new services including daily revisits.
Together, the SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 constellation will assure continued availability of high-resolution, wide-area products through to 2024.The first SPOT 6 images can be viewed in the image gallery on Astrium GEO-Information Services' website and subscenes can be downloaded via FTP.
source:  http://www.spacedaily.com

China satellites: Science or spying?

Nottingham, England (UPI) Sep 11, 2012

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

China's proposal to send eight satellites into space to monitor ocean waters surrounding the country could be more about spying, a British scientist says.
With China already having three maritime satellites in orbit, John Walker of the Nottingham Trent University said adding eight more was "a very significant investment just to monitor water."
"I would expect the real value of these satellites to be more military and intelligence gathering," he said.
Walker has previously worked in scientific research within Britain's Ministry of Defense, the BBC reported.
China's State Oceanic Administration said the present marine monitoring satellites oversee around 115,000 square miles of ocean around the country.
Four of the new satellites will observe the color of ocean waters while two will study currents and two will be equipped with radar, National Satellite Ocean Application Service Director Jiang Xingwei told the China Daily newspaper.
source: www.spacewar.com

CubeSats get big

by Jeff Foust
Monday, September 10, 2012

In the space industry, if someone mentions the “smallsat conference” they almost certainly mean what’s officially known as the AIAA/Utah State University Conference on Small Satellites, held every August on the Utah State campus in Logan. Over the years, as interest in smallsats has grown, so has the conference, attracting everyone from college students to industry veterans from across the country and around the world. The conference has become so large—over 1,150 attendees at last month’s conference—that a few years ago it outgrew its previous location, the university’s conference center. The conference now takes over part of the student union building, with conference sessions in the ballroom and exhibits—from companies large and small as well as government agencies—tucked into every available space outside the ballroom.

“We’re on the verge of doing some really neat science with CubeSats,” said Malphrus.

Yet, while the conference has gotten larger, the topic of the conference has gotten smaller. It’s not that interest in smallsats is waning, but instead the satellites themselves are getting smaller. In the last several years, there’s been a surge in interest in very small satellites, called CubeSats, that are ten centimeters on a side and weigh one kilogram. While the CubeSat concept has been around for over a decade, it had originally been considered by most in the industry as little more than a novelty: good engineering projects for students, but of little use otherwise—and possible, in large numbers, an orbital debris nuisance. At this year’s conference, though, CubeSat-class missions dominated the conference presentations and other discussions during the four-day event.

More satellite launches planned for upgrading maritime monitoring

Beijing (XNA) Sep 10, 2012

File image.

China plans to launch eight more satellites by 2020 to further improve the country's maritime monitoring network, a national English-language newspaper reported Thursday.
The planned launches will include four satellites for observing sea color, two for observing ocean currents, and two maritime radar satellites, according to the China Daily report, quoting official sources.
Jiang Xingwei, director of the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, was quoted as saying the plan has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning authority.
The new satellites will greatly improve China's ability to observe and supervise the marine environment, Jiang said.
According to the report, China already has three satellites that monitor its territorial waters and islands, including the Diaoyu Islands and Huangyan Island, but they cannot be used to focus on a fixed location. It is believed that the launch of the two maritime radar satellites will add that capability.

source:  http://www.spacedaily.com

Astrium installs new terminal in Mexico to receive SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 imagery

Toulouse, France (SPX) Sep 06, 2012

The SPOT constellation. For a larger version of this image please go here.

Astrium Services and the Mexican federal government's Ministry of agriculture, livestock farming, rural development, food and fisheries (SAGARPA), signed an agreement this spring to upgrade the ERMEX receiving station south of Mexico City. This station will enter service in September. Equipped with a high-tech antenna and new-generation SPOT terminal, it will initially receive SPOT 5 imagery and then SPOT 6 imagery when commercial operations get underway.
It will also receive data from SPOT 7 in 2014.The Agricultural and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP) operates the ERMEX receiving station, handling more than 70,000 images every year for the Ministry of Agriculture and sharing data through a multi-licence agreement with public research bodies, government agencies and international organizations.SIAP has already covered Mexico's territory eight times over with satellite imagery received by the ERMEX station.
It thus has a mosaic of geo-information to support comparative analysis of phenomena impacting production of food, textiles and energy.

Remote Sensing Satellite Sends First Earth Imagery

Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Sep 03, 2012

Russia's remote sensing satellite Canopus-B.

Russia's remote sensing satellite Canopus-B, launched a month ago, has taken its first photos of the earth's surface, the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Thursday.
The imagery, which is currently being processed and analyzed, generally meets the set standards, the agency said.
The satellite is still operating in "trial mode," but the quality of the imagery is "reassuring," Valery Dyadyuchenko, deputy head of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet), told RIA Novosti.
Launched on July 22 from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, Canopus-B took its first pictures on August 28 and 29.
The satellite is to provide current information to the Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and Rosgidromet.
It weighs about 400 kilograms and carries optical equipment that can discern objects of over 2.1 meters in size.
The satellite has a service life of five to seven years.

source:  http://www.spacedaily.com

Interactive map shows heatwave risks for European cities

Paris (AFP) Sept 4, 2012


The European Environment Agency (EEA) on Tuesday unveiled an interactive map indicating the heatwave risk for European cities six decades from now on the basis of likely global warming trends.
Southern Spain, parts of southern France, Italy, Greece, Serbia and western Turkey are most exposed.
These regions are likely to notch up more than 50 days in the year when day temperatures will be greater than 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and nighttime temperatures will not dip below 20 C (68 F).
The northern rim of continental Europe, the British Isles, Scandinavia and the southern Baltic will have the least heatwave risk, according to the model, which looks at 2071-2100.
The map (http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/how-vulnerable-is-your-city) looks at 500 cities, factoring in the risk of "urban heat island" -- heat that is stored in roads and concrete structures -- and green areas that provide relief during heatwaves.

source:  http://www.terradaily.com