Japan launches new satellites to boost surveillance

Tokyo (AFP) Jan 27, 2013
Japan Sunday launched two satellites to strengthen its surveillance capabilities, including keeping a closer eye on North Korea which has vowed to stage another nuclear test.
One of them was a radar-equipped unit to complete a system of surveillance satellites that will allow Tokyo to monitor any place in the world at least once a day.
The other was a demonstration satellite to collect data for research and development.
The H-IIA rocket blasted off from the southern island of Tanegashima around 1:40 pm (0440 GMT) and released the satellites as planned, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
"The rocket flew as planned and released both satellites," JAXA said in a statement, confirming its success.
From an altitude of several hundred kilometres, the radar satellite will be able to detect objects on the ground as small as a square metre, including at night and through cloud cover.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has taken a hardline stance on North Korea, hailed the successful launch.

US Army SMDC Funds Andrews Space To Build Kestrel Eye 2 Earth Imaging Nanosat

Seattle WA (SPX) Feb 05, 2013

File image.

Andrews Space (Andrews) has announced that they have been funded by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command to design and deliver a Kestrel Eye Block 2 Earth imaging spacecraft as part of the Army's Kestrel Eye program.
Under the current effort, known as Kestrel Eye Block 2, Andrews will develop, build and deliver an Earth imaging nanosatellite.
The spacecraft embodies a paradigm shift to lower-cost, higher persistence overhead reconnaissance capabilities. While not meant to replace traditional imaging assets, Kestrel Eye Block 2 seeks to augment the current approach to remote sensing by demonstrating the application of low-cost, commercial technologies to enable a new tier of reconnaissance capability.
The overall Army effort is a Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) that requires the demonstration program be completed in 24 months, or 2014.
Incremental subsystem hardware demonstrations will occur regularly during development to build confidence in the system and assess subsystem performance against threshold objectives and goals.
"We are deeply honored that the US Army SMDC has selected Andrews Space for this important program," said Jason Andrews, President and CEO of Andrews Space.
"We look forward to demonstrating that low-cost, persistent imagery is achievable and repeatable utilizing commercial technologies, and that this platform can provide a valuable new tier of imaging capability to traditional reconnaissance missions."
source: http://www.spacedaily.com

New tools enable high-res observations from anywhere with internet access

Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Jan 31, 2013

File image: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite data.

A paper published in the February issue of Computers and Geosciences, describes a case study in which an earth-observing satellite tool, the Tool for High-Resolution Observation Review (THOR), using minimal coding effort, is converted into a practical web-based application, THOR-Online. In addition, a 3D visualization technique is also described in this paper.
Initially only operable from a desktop computer, with the approach outlined in the study, THOR is now accessible online from NASA's Precipitation Processing System website.
This allows researchers to remotely examine the 15-year archive of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite data. Efforts to improve THOR have been on-going since the 1997 launch of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, which carries first space-borne radar capable of observing detailed three-dimensional structure of regions of precipitation inside of storm clouds.

Envisat-Meris images available free of cost

Published Date : 27 January 2013

MERIS mosaic of Africa - May 2004

Credits: ESA

The VITO image processing team in collaboration with ESA and Belgian Science Policy announced a new free product in the world of low resolution Earth observation data, the global Envisat-MERIS 10-daily composites at 1 km resolution (EM10). The Envisat-Meris S10 or "EM10" are near-global, 10-daily composite images which are synthesised from the "best available" observations registered in the course of every "dekad" by the orbiting earth observation system Envisat-Meris. VITO ingests all the daytime registrations of ENVISAT-MERIS and further processes them into global, 10-daily synthesis images, very comparable with the S10 of SPOT-VEGETATION.
The EM10 products are available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded via the on-line catalogue. Currently, products from January 2010 till March 2012 are available in the catalogue; meanwhile VITO is backprocessing all previous years (2002-2012).
MERIS is a programmable, medium-spectral resolution, imaging spectrometer operating in the solar reflective spectral range.
Detailed information is available on ESA's website.

Read more: 

MERIS 10 Website

Mapping Mars

4 February 2013

 

Nearly 90% of Mars’ surface has been mapped by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express, which celebrates ten years since launch this June. 
The mosaic comprises 2702 individual swaths of the martian surface, up to and including the spacecraft’s 10 821st orbit of the planet, which it completed on 30 June 2012.
In total, 87.8% of the surface has been mapped at any resolution, with 61.5% mapped at a resolution of 20 m per pixel or better. The map is equatorially aligned, meaning that regions at the poles appear distorted. 

ISS to Scan the Globe for Weather Data with ISS-RapidScat

Houston TX (SPX) Feb 05, 2013

An artist's concept showing the International Space Station-RapidScat instrument against the station. (NASA JPL/Caltech).

Regular measurements of wind speed and direction at the ocean surface alert forecasters to threatening tropical storm conditions, while informing scientists of interactions between the atmosphere and sea currents that influence environmental conditions across the globe. The observations are most effectively gathered from Earth orbit.
The U.S. lost that capability suddenly in late 2009, when the SeaWinds scatterometer aboard NASA's then 10-year-old QuikScat satellite experienced an age-related antenna failure.
While NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assess the options for a long term replacement, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, and the International Space Station Program Office at the Johnson Space Center have mobilized to launch a replacement assembled from spare components left over from the development of QuikScat and ADEOS II.
"The ability for NASA to quickly reuse this hardware and launch it to the space station is a great example of a low-cost approach that will have high benefits to science and life here on Earth," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager.
ISS-RapidScat will launch to the space station in 2014 aboard a SpaceX Dragon resupply mission. Once unpacked using the station's robot arms, ISS-RapidScat will install on the exterior of the Columbus module.

Pleiades 1B captures its first images using e2v sensors

Paris, France (SPX) Jan 18, 2013

File image: Pleiades 1B.

Pleiades 1B, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) Earth observation satellite, has captured its first images using e2v high performance imaging sensors.
Two types of e2v sensors (for panchromatic and multispectral imaging) equip the satellites high-resolution optical imaging instrument; these were selected by Thales Alenia Space, who is providing the HR instrument to Astrium, developed under CNES contract.
Pleiades 1B has been designed to provide dual use optical observation coverage with a 70-centimeter resolution.
It was launched into space from French Guiana on 30 November 2012 and has accompanied its twin, Pleiades 1A, which was launched into space in December 2011.
The Astrium division of EADS built both Pleiades satellites for the French CNES space agency for use by the French and Spanish defence ministries, civil institutions, and private users. They are based on smaller, cheaper, more agile platforms than their predecessors - the highly-successful Spot satellite series.

DigitalGlobe and GeoEye Complete Combination

Longmont CO (SPX) Feb 06, 2013

File image.

DigitalGlobe and GeoEye have completed their merger, creating a global leader in earth imagery and geospatial analysis. The combined company will trade on the NYSE stock exchange as DigitalGlobe under the symbol DGI. Based on the closing price of DigitalGlobe stock on January 30, 2013, the combined company has a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.
"With a stronger financial profile, more robust suite of services, and among the world's most advanced geospatial production and analysis capabilities, we will be even better positioned to meet customers' needs and create value for shareowners," said Jeffrey R. Tarr, President and Chief Executive Officer of DigitalGlobe.
"Together, we are poised to achieve our vision of being the leading source of information about our changing planet."
As a result of the combination, DigitalGlobe is now uniquely positioned to provide a wider array of earth imagery and geospatial analysis to help customers solve their most complex problems and compete in a high-growth and dynamic global market. Together, the combined company will have:
+ An expanded global presence with a larger and more diverse revenue base;
+ A larger constellation with optimized orbits, coordinated scheduling and improved revisit rates;
+ Better integrated imagery collection, processing and analytics capabilities; and
+ A strengthened balance sheet and financial profile with more than an expected $1.5 billion in net present value of operating expense and capital synergies, with approximately one-third of those synergy savings related to operating expense and the balance from capital savings.