China Imaging Satellite

In November last year China successfully put into orbit the third of its ZY-2 second transmitting-type remote sensing satellites. China launched the first and second ZY-2 satellites in September 2000 and October 2002, respectively, and these are still in orbit. Compared with these previous two satellites, the third has improved overall performance and technology. The satellite is mainly meant for land resource surveying, environmental supervision and protection, city planning, crop-yield assessment, disaster monitoring and space scientific experiment. The launch marked the 82nd time that Long March carriers have been used and the fortieth consecutive successful launch since China launched the... (read more)

2005-03-16 12:00:00

GOCE Earth Explorer Satellite

The European Space Agency is about to launch a mission to investigate the Earth's gravitational field and to map the reference shape of our planet - the geoid - with exceptional resolution and accuracy. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) will be placed onto a low altitude near sun-synchronous orbit by a Russian Rockot vehicle launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Nothern Russia, some 800 km north of Moscow. Lift-off is scheduled to take place at 16:21 CEST (14:21 UTC) on 10th September. The launcher is operated by Eurockot Launch Services, a joint venture between EADS Astrium... (read more)

2008-08-26 09:06:28

QuickBird Satellite Mission Ends

European Space Imaging has announced that on Tuesday 27 January, after 13 years of excellent performance, QuickBird approached its end of mission smoothly and re-entered the Earths' atmosphere at 01:59 UTC above the South Atlantic Ocean near southern Brazil. DigitalGlobe confirms that QuickBird de-orbited successfully. QuickBird was in orbit for more than 13 years, far exceeding its designed mission life. The satellite made over 70,000 trips around the Earth, contributing substantially to DigitalGlobe’s unmatched imagery catalogue and thus the understanding of our changing planet. The company thanks its customers and partners for their support of a very successful mission. Imagery... (read more)

2015-02-05 07:30:00

High Resolution Satellite DTMs

GeoEye-1 stereo satellite imagery is capable of producing Digital Terrain Models (DTM) with better then 0.5m vertical accuracy. AAMHatch tasked the GeoEye-1 satellite to capture stereo data over a 270sqkm area in Eastern Australia. The application was an engineering study for the energy sector with the client requiring a 0.5m ortho-image with 2m contours. GeoEye-1's unsurpassed agility and maneuverability assists in rapid stereo capture. This image was cloud-free, and delivered to AAMHatch for processing within 48 hours of capture. Survey accurate ground control points, distributed evenly across the area, were used in the image processing. These points enabled... (read more)

2009-09-03 11:01:26

New GPS Satellite Operational

The fourth in a series of eight modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites that will deliver new capabilities to military and civilian users has been declared fully operational. Launched from Cape Canaveral October 17, the satellite was given the all clear after an on-orbit checkout by a combined U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin team. Read more The satellite joins three IIR-M satellites and 12 other operational Block IIR satellites within the current 28-spacecraft constellation. The fifth GPS IIR-M satellite is scheduled for launch on 20th December 20, 2007 from Cape Canaveral. (read more)

2007-11-06 01:55:21

Jason-2 Satellite

NOAA (Washington DC, USA) has announced the launch of a new satellite. The satellite will monitor the rate of sea-level rise and help measure the strength of hurricanes. NOAA will use data from the Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) to extend a 15-year record from two earlier altimeter missions that currently show sea level is rising at a rate of 3.2 mm/year - nearly twice as fast as the previous 100 years. The Jason-2/OSTM is scheduled for lift off June 15 at 1:47 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The spacecraft is a joint, international effort between NOAA, NASA,... (read more)

2008-05-22 09:36:05

Thai Surveying Satellite Theos

Thailand's first geography-surveying satellite ''Theos'' is expected to be launched into orbit October 2007. The six-billion-baht satellite, officially called Thailand Earth Observation System (Theos), is being built by France-based Astrium S.A.S. Equipped with two cameras, the satellite is expected to help the government better plan natural disaster management as it will be able to help monitor areas prone to floods and coastal areas at risk of being hit by tsunami waves. ''The most important benefit to us is the development of Thai personnel in the area of space technology,'' Science and Technology Minister Yongyuth Yuthavong said. More than 20 Thai... (read more)

2007-01-29 10:51:10

GeoEye-1 Satellite Launch

GeoEye (VA, USA), has announced the launch of the world\'s highest resolution, commercial Earth-imaging satellite, which is scheduled for 4th September 2008, from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California. The planned launch time is 11:50:57 a.m. PDT (2:50:57 p.m. EDT). A Flight Readiness Review was conducted on Aug. 28 and the launch vehicle, launch range, the GeoEye-1 satellite, and all other program elements are ready for launch. GeoEye-1 will be lifted into a near-polar orbit by a 12-story-tall United Launch Alliance Delta II 7420-10 configuration launch vehicle. GeoEye-1, designed and built by General Dynamics Advanced... (read more)

2008-09-02 11:14:47

EarthCARE Satellite Contract Signed

The European Space Agency and Astrium GmbH have signed a contract worth €263m to provide the EarthCARE satellite, the sixth Earth Explorer mission of ESA's Living Planet Programme. As prime contractor, Astrium GmbH is responsible for the satellite's design, development and integration. The contract was signed in Berlin on the occasion of the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) by Volker Liebig, ESA's Director of Earth Observation, Evert Dudok, CEO of Astrium Satellites and Uwe Minne, Director of Earth Observation and Science at Astrium GmbH (Friedrichshafen), in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and Head of... (read more)

2008-05-28 09:16:45

Satellite Smartphone App Contest

Surrey experts in space technology have today launched a Facebook competition challenging the British public to develop innovative applications that will run on its smartphone-powered satellite due for launch into space next year. The STRaND-1 (Surrey Training, Research and Nanosatellite Demonstrator) satellite weighs just 4kg and is a collaborative effort between engineers at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and University of Surrey researchers. It is being built in their free time to test innovative ideas for lower cost space missions. In the spirit of the mission, the four most creative, novel and fun 'App' ideas will be... (read more)

2011-08-02 08:50:04