exactEarth Ltd. (“exactEarth” or the “Company”) (TSX:XCT), a leading provider of satellite Automatic Identification System (“AIS”) data services announces that its advanced AIS payload onboard the Spanish radar satellite, PAZ, has completed its commissioning phase and is now fully-operational. The PAZ satellite is owned and operated by Hisdesat Servicios Estrategicos S.A. and hosts an AIS payload owned by exactEarth, which is the first commercial AIS payload to be in operation onboard a radar satellite.
Launched earlier in 2018, PAZ is in the dawn-dusk sun synchronous orbit that is occupied by a majority of the world’s radar satellites. With an AIS payload onboard, for the first time AIS vessel signals and Synthetic Aperture Radar (“SAR”) imagery can be combined to enhance global maritime monitoring capabilities. Supported by exactView RT, the Company’s superior real-time satellite AIS service, the fusion of these two data sets can better assist maritime security and surveillance by rapidly correlating two data sources to identify so-called ‘dark targets’, which are vessels that should be transmitting AIS signals, but are not.
“Our thanks and congratulations go out to Hisdesat on the successful launch and commissioning of the PAZ satellite,” said Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth. “We now have 54 high performance satellite payloads in orbit capturing AIS data on more than 250,000 vessels daily and today’s announcement helps to further solidify our leadership position in the industry and our differentiated technological capabilities. With the world’s first AIS payload onboard a radar satellite, exactEarth is uniquely positioned to help its customers leverage the combination of AIS data and radar imagery to develop advanced maritime surveillance applications that enhance the security and safety of their interests.”
About exactEarth Ltd (www.exactEarth.com)
exactEarth is a leading provider of global maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions. Since its establishment in 2009, exactEarth has pioneered a powerful new method of maritime surveillance called Satellite AIS (“S-AIS”). This service provides a comprehensive view of the location of AIS-equipped maritime vessels throughout the world, as well as other vital vessel characteristics. Under its alliance with Harris Corporation, exactEarth has launched exactView RT, which is the world’s first S-AIS service designed to deliver real-time continuous global coverage of all maritime vessels. This ground-breaking system will allow exactEarth to deliver real-time data and information services characterized by rapid performance, reliability, security and simplicity to large international markets.