Meet the Flockers: ISS Launches Low-Cost Earth-Imaging Micro-Satellites
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Since
the launch of the Landsat program in 1972, generating images of Earth
from space has been the near-exclusive domain of enormous, multi-million
dollar satellites sponsored by nations and major defense corporations.
But these new micro-satellites, recently launched from the ISS, aim to
make real-time imaging available for a fraction of the price.
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Designed, built, and operated by San Francisco-based Planet Labs,
the micro-satellite (aka "CubeSats") system consists of 28 12- x 4- x
4-inch-tall imaging satellites, individually known as Doves, and
collectively known as Flock 1.
These
CubeSats are constructed largely from low-cost, non-traditional
components, which drastically reduces the cost of each unit. The Flock
was first delivered to the ISS last December aboard Orbital Sciences'
robotic Cygnus vessel, and were released from the ISS using the station's on-board cube cannon.
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The
fleet of Flockers, like the Landsat mission before them, capture
imagery of Earth for humanitarian, environmental, and commercial
projects—and make all of their data available, for free, for anyone who
wants it. The system automatically handles the image capture, storage,
and transmission processes, beaming them down to a Planet Labs ground
station, which then processes the images and publishes them on the web.
This makes them an ideal compliment to existing higher-resolution
systems like UAVs, or conventional imaging satellites.
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"We
believe that the democratization of information about a changing planet
is the mission that we are focused on, and that, in and of itself, is
going to be quite valuable for the planet," Robbie Schingler, co-founder
of Planet Labs, told Discovery.
"One tenet that we have is to make sure that we produce more value than
we actually capture, so we have an open principle within the company
with respect to anyone getting access to the data."
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Unlike
the massive orbital prying eyes of earlier Earth Imaging satellites,
each Dove only resolves down to 10 to 16.5 feet (3 to 5 meters)—enough
to monitor deforestation rates or agricultural yields, or track the
melting of the polar ice caps and seasonal natural disasters—but not
strong enough to, say, track a human-sized target.
"Things
that were once the province of huge 10-ton satellites are now in these
tiny things. That's what enables us to generate a data set that is
unprecedented in terms of coverage and cadence," company co-founder and
chief executive Will Marshall told Discovery News.
And
though the resolution isn't as powerful as other systems, Flock 1 will
provide continuous, always-on imaging of the planet between the equator
and the 52 parallel. Google Earth is about to get some serious
competition. [Citizens in Space - Space - Planet Labs - NASA]
Images: Planet Labs
From today's NASA Picture of the Day:
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Set of NanoRacks CubeSats Deployed From International Space Station
NASA (Full resolution photo available at link)
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NanoRacks CubeSats Deployed From Station
ISS038-E-044916 (11 Feb. 2014) —- A set of NanoRacks CubeSats is
photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member after the deployment by the
Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD). The CubeSats program contains a
variety of experiments such as Earth observations and advanced
electronics testing.
Larger versions available here.
end quote from:
You can read tons more about Planet Labs' tiny satellite program here.
Larger versions available here.
end quote from:
You can read tons more about Planet Labs' tiny satellite program here.
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