Planet image of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Credit: Planet

NASA awards Planet $6.7 million for climate campaign

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NASA awarded Planet a $6.7 million contract to provide Earth imagery for climate research.

35TH SPACE SYMPOSIUM Civil Commercial climate monitoringEarth observationNASAPlanet
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas). Credit: Courtesy of Rep. Johnson

Lawmakers urge FCC to postpone March 14 spectrum auction

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Leaders of the House Science Committee and three House Appropriations subcommittees are calling on the FCC to delay the auction of 5G radio frequency spectrum scheduled for March 14 due to concern about interference with space-based weather sensors.

Civil 5GEarth observationFCCNASANOAASpectrum
Audacy, a Silicon Valley startup, plans to begin serving customers through its ground stations as it establishes a global constellation of data relay satellites in medium Earth orbit. Credit: Audacy

Audacy and Iceye explore cooperation

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Audacy, a space communications startup, announced a memorandum of understanding March 11 with Iceye, a Finnish radar satellite startup, to explore how Audacy’s planned inter-satellite data relay network can support Iceye’s planned constellation.

Commercial AudacyEarth observationIceyesatellite communications
An artist’s concept of Canada’s smart robotic system located on the exterior of the Gateway, a small space station in orbit around the moon. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

Canada’s long-awaited space strategy emphasizes AI, EO and deep-space robotics

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The Canadian government will also try to cut the regulatory red tape the space industry has complained has hindered projects from moving forward.

Civil Policy & Politics artificial intelligenceCanadian Space AgencyEarth observationLunar Gatewayspace robotics
Iceye hired Leola Moss as its new vice president for product delivery and operations, and Steve Young as its new vice president for business development and sales. Credit: Iceye

Iceye expands staff to prepare for constellation

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Iceye, the Earth observation startup based in Helsinki, has hired two vice presidents to help customers gain access to imagery from its planned constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites.

Commercial Earth observationIceyeSAR
GPS 3 satellite (Lockheed Martin)

Triage reveals urgent military space jobs

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U.S. combatant commanders urgently need to solve pressing problems in Earth observation, missile warning and position, navigation and timing, said Chuck Finley, former technical director of the Operational Responsive Space and its successor the Air Force Space Rapid Capabilities.

Military Earth observationGPSmissile warningOperationally Responsive SpaceSpace Rapid Capabilities OfficeSpace Situational Awareness
Bluefield Technologies tested its methane-detecting sensor aboard a helicopter in December 2018. Credit: Bluefield Technologies

Bluefield adds customers for methane detection

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Bluefield Technologies is signing up additional customers in the wake of a recent aerial demonstration of its optical sensors to detect methane leaks.

Civil Commercial Bluefield TechnologiesEarth observationgreenhouse gas monitoringmethane
The Amazon River basin and its tributaries are clearly visible in this imagery from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System. Credit: Clara Chew, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Hurricane satellites reveal flooding

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Satellites launched in 2016 to track ocean winds offer valuable information on soil moisture and flooding.

American Meteorological Society 2019 Civil CYGNSSEarth observationSmall SatellitesUniversity of Michigan
“The real opportunity is to deliver insight in a way that helps anyone make a better decision,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer, shown above speaking at GEOINT 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. “That’s when we will evolve this smaller industry, which is about a $5 billion addressable market, to be part of the business-to-business information services economy, a $100 billion, $200 billion industry. That’s what we’re focused on.” Credit: @GEOINTSYMPOSIUM via Twitter

Forecasts call for rapid growth in Earth observation market

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Two consulting firms anticipate strong demand for commercial Earth observation products and services in the next decade as satellite constellations offer an increasing array of optical, radar, hyperspectral and video imagery and data.

From the Magazine Earth observation
Axelspace AxelGlobe Japan

Axelspace raises $22.8 million for remote-sensing constellation

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In an interview, Axelspace Chief Business Development Officer Yasunori Yamazaki, said the funding will enable the company of 65 people to continue building a constellation called AxelGlobe, though the company hasn’t decided on a final size for the constellation.

Civil Commercial Earth observationJapanSmallsat
NorthStar Earth and Space's planned 40-satellite constellation will use hyperspectral and infrared cameras to monitor Earth, and optical cameras to monitor space. Credit: NorthStar Earth and Space

LEO startup raises $39.5 million for constellation to watch Earth and space

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The round brings NorthStar E&S’s total funding to 83 million Canadian dollars and ends a funding drought from when the company announced its plans three years ago.

Civil Commercial Earth observationSSA
Spire CEO Peter Platzer, second from left, and Planet CEO Will Marshall, third from left, spoke Nov. 12 at ESA's PhiWeek in Frascati, Italy. Credit: ESA video still

Commercial EO innovation challenges snail-pace government timescales

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Leaps in capabilities of commercial constellations of small Earth-observation satellites and the decreasing cost of their services were at the center of a debate about the future of publicly funded Earth-observation missions after Spire CEO Peter Platzer introduced the company’s ambition to become “the Amazon” of space.

Earth observationESAPhiWeekPlanetSpire
Space Rider aims to provide Europe with an affordable, independent, reusable end-to-end integrated space transportation system for routine access and return from low orbit. It will be used to transport payloads for an array of applications, orbit altitudes and inclinations. Credit: ESA

ESA targets 2021 for Space Rider demo flight

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The European Space Agency expects to carry out the qualification flight of the Space Rider spaceplane in 2021 followed by multiple demonstration missions before handing over the program to industry, according to Lucia Linares, head of ESA space transportation strategy and policy.

Missions Earth observationESASpace Rider
Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director for Earth observation programs

ESA preps Earth observation satellite with onboard AI processor

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The European Space Agency plans to launch an Earth observation satellite equipped with an artificially intelligent processor that would enable the spacecraft to make decisions regarding what to image and which data to send to the ground.

Commercial Missions artificial intelligenceEarth observationESAPlanet
OCO-2

Space agencies welcome new entrants developing satellites for tracking greenhouse gases

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As a growing number of organizations propose satellites to monitor greenhouse gases, national space agencies who already operate such spacecraft welcome those new entrants — as long as they’re willing to share their results.

Missions CaliforniaEarth observationEarth ScienceESAGHGSatJAXANASA
The first wind data from ESA’s Aeolus satellite released Sept. 12 shows three quarters of one orbit. The image shows large-scale easterly and westerly winds between Earth’s surface and the lower stratosphere, including jet streams. As the satellite orbits from the Arctic towards the Antarctic, it senses, for example, strong westerly wind streams at mid latitudes (shown in blue). Closer to Antarctic, Aeolus senses strong westerly winds circling the Antarctic continent in the troposphere and stratosphere (shown in blue left of Antarctica and in red right of Antarctica.) Credit: ESA

ESA’s Aeolus. A game-changer for forecasts?

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The first wind data captured by the European Space Agency's Aeolus wind sensor show the sensor is working as designed, a huge relief for a program managers who struggled for more than a decade with the complex technology.

Missions World Satellite Business Week 2018 AeolusEarth observationESAEuropean Space AgencyNOAA

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