Earth observation
NGA signs research and development agreement with Capella
Capella Space, a San Francisco startup preparing to operate a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites, announced a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement June 25 with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
York Space and MSU Denver extend partnership through Air Force contract
York Space Systems and Metropolitan State University of Denver won a U.S. Air Force contract to investigate ways to reduce the cost and speed delivery of high-quality satellite imagery.
PredaSAR to send 48 satellites into initial radar constellation
PredaSAR Corp. plans to deploy an initial constellation of 48 radar satellites with the goal of offering customers the ability to obtain updated views of sites on the ground within minutes.
LatConnect 60 selects York to build and operate satellites
Australian Earth observation startup LatConnect 60 announced plans June 9 to hire York Space Systems to manufacture small satellites and to operate an Earth observation constellation.
Planet unveils tasking and API for expanding SkySat fleet
Planet unveiled a cloud-based dashboard and API June 9 to allow customers to task the firm’s growing SkySat constellation.
Raytheon wins NOAA study contract for geostationary imager
Raytheon won a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract for a design study of Real Time Imager, an instrument to obtain high-resolution Earth observation imagery from geostationary orbit.
NASA taps Airbus for commercial satellite data buy
NASA intends to gain access to Earth observation data gathered by Airbus Defense and Space satellites through the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program.
HawkEye 360 detects uptick in Italian maritime activity
Maritime activity around Italy is beginning to pick up as the government begins easing restrictions imposed in early March to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Iceye to offer interferometry with small radar satellites
Finland’s Iceye is demonstrating for customers its ability to detect millimeter-scale vertical differences by comparing data in multiple Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images of the same location.
WorldView Legion remains on track for 2021 launch
Maxar Technologies is on track to begin integrating Earth-imaging sensors built by Raytheon Intelligence & Space with WorldView Legion satellites this summer in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NASA awards Planet $7 million Earth imagery contract
NASA employees, contractors and teams working on NASA-funded research will have access to Planet Earth observation imagery under a $7 million contract option the San Francisco company announced April 16.
Planet imagery reveals source of Beijing’s ongoing pollution
Air pollution has fallen dramatically in many areas of China as activity slows in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some parts of Beijing, though, have experienced little relief because work continues at nearby power plants and steel mills.
NOAA awards first contracts for future satellite constellation
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded eight contracts with a combined total of nearly $4.5 million to companies developing mission concepts, spacecraft and instruments for the agency’s future Earth observation constellation.
Umbra Lab patent application reveals unique antenna design
The patent for Umbra Lab’s antenna is now public, revealing how the startup intends to deploy a large synthetic aperture radar reflector on a microsatellite.
Iceye unveils radar imagery with 25-centimeter resolution
Iceye, the Finnish Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operator, unveiled a new product March 26: imagery with a resolution of 25 centimeters.
Iceye releases preview of new radar video product
Radar satellite operator Iceye released a preview March 9 of a video product it plans to offer commercially by the end of 2020.
