Earth observation
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.
Sen hires NanoAvionics to build EarthTV satellites
Sen, a British startup, awarded Lithuanian satellite manufacturer NanoAvionics a contract to build five nanosatellites to capture ultra-high-definition video from space.
Iceye establishes U.S. office, considers U.S. manufacturing
Iceye, the Finnish radar satellite operator, opened a U.S. office in the San Francisco Bay Area led by Mark Matossian, who managed a series of aerospace programs at Google including the Earth-imaging venture Terra Bella.
Descartes Labs unveils data refinery, modeling platform
Descartes Labs unveiled Jan. 22 a cloud-based platform for commercial customers that pairs geospatial datasets with modeling tools and applications.
Iceye releases dark vessel detection product
Radar satellite operator Iceye released a product to detect dark vessels, ships at sea that are not identifying themselves with Automatic Identification System transponders.
