Canadian group Urthecast plans to put a 16-satellite constellation in orbit to image the Earth.
Urthecast already has a pair of cameras on the International Space Station, one of which returns short videos.The new proposal would see free-flying optical and radar sensors circling the globe by the start of the next decade.
Urthecast has asked the UK manufacturer SSTL to make the satellites, and the Spanish concern Elecnor Deimos to design the ground control segment.
UrtheCast Announces World's First Commercial SAR and Optical 16-Satellite Constellation -- VANCOUVER, June 19, 2015
VANCOUVER, June 19, 2015
/CNW/ - UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR) ("UrtheCast" or the "Company") today
announced plans to build, launch and operate the world's first
fully-integrated, multispectral optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar
(SAR) commercial constellation of Earth Observation satellites (the
"Constellation"), to be deployed over multiple launches expected in 2019
and 2020.
The Constellation is expected to comprise a minimum of 16 satellites (8 optical and 8 SAR)
flying in two orbital planes, with each plane consisting of four
satellite pairs, equally-spaced around the orbit plane. Each pair of
satellites will consist of a dual-mode, high-resolution optical
satellite (video and pushbroom) and a dual-band high-resolution SAR
satellite (X-band and L-band) flying in tandem. The Constellation will
provide what the Company anticipates to be unmatched space-imaging
capabilities, including high collection capacity, optical and SAR data
fusion, weather-independent high-resolution imaging using the SAR,
target revisit, and imaging latency. By flying the satellites in
tightly-paired SAR and optical tandem formations, the Constellation is
expected to offer a number of innovative capabilities, including onboard
real-time processing, cross-cueing between the satellites, and
real-time cloud imaging on the leading SAR satellites that enables cloud
avoidance in the trailing optical satellites. By employing two orbital
planes, the Constellation will allow for maximum revisit rates in the
mid-latitudes, while providing the Company with global coverage
extending to the poles.
UrtheCast's Strategic Industrial Partners: SSTL (UK) and ElecnorDeimos (Spain)
UrtheCast's strategic implementation partner for the satellite design and build is UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), [SSTL to work with UrtheCast on 16-satellite constellation] the world's leading smallsat manufacturer, owned by Netherlands-headquartered Airbus Group SE. Said Luis Gomes Director of Earth Observation for SSTL, "The design of the Gen-3 constellation is the culmination of a considerable effort on the part of both companies over the past year, working in very close partnership. As strategic partners in this venture, we see this initiative as a perfect marriage of the strengths of both SSTL and UrtheCast."
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