Blue Marble image of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on Dec. 7 1972.
Image Credit: NASA

This week we’re looking at an announcement on a new calibration and validation site, high-resolution CubeSat imagery, and the ripples of the Trump presidency impacting the space sector.

Calibration & Validation

Last week the European Space Agency announced plans, in conjunction with the Finnish government and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, to establish an Earth Observation (EO) calibration and validation site in Sodankylä in Finnish Lapland.

Calibration and validation sites are vital for EO satellites as they are designated geographical locations where a set of measurements are collected on the ground, and these are compared to the same measurements collected by EO satellites, allowing scientists to assess how accurate the satellite sensors are. These measurements, often called ground truth measurements although in reality they would also have uncertainties, help ensure confidence and trust in satellite data and are vital to the industry.

While there are many such sites around the world, this proposal will establish a, so called, supersite. As Sodankylä is a high-latitude location and surround by boreal forest, it makes it an ideal calibration and validation site and will help improve the quality of satellite-based information focused on the Arctic. There are currently calibration and validation facilities on the site, but these will be expanded to offer capabilities for microwave, multispectral and hyperspectral, and greenhouse gas observations.

It is hoped this development will also enhance Finland’s EO sector, offering opportunities for business within the country to get involved in this field.

Ripples From Trump

A few weeks ago, we highlighted some of the potential implications for the EO and space sectors as President Donald Trump began his second term. Several reports over the last week have indicated the first of these ‘anticipated’ ripples are hitting the sector:

• NASA has paused all meetings and activities of some key planetary and astrophysics science committees and groups, as they carry out assessments to ensure that the activities complied with the Executive Orders issued by the President. While we’ve not yet heard of anything similar for the EO sector directly, it feels like it will be when, and not if, we’ll hear about it.
• It has also been reported that NASA has ordered key agency personnel not to participate in the upcoming meeting of the Committee on Earth Observations Satellites (CEOS), including remote dial-in. NOAA personnel will also reportedly be absent from participating. It will be interested to see whether this will be extended to wider meetings and conferences in the coming months.

High-resolution CubeSat Images

An interesting report was issued last week from the Japanese start-up ArkEdge Space, it said that the Onglaisat CubeSat they built for the Taiwan Space Agency has possibly captured the highest-resolution image ever by a small CubeSat. Ongliasat, which is acronym of ‘onboard globe-looking and imaging satellite’, was taken up to the International Space Station (ISS) last November and was launched the following month with a reported spatial resolution of 2.5 metres.

Whether this is the highest resolution image from a CubeSat is not known, it is still an interesting development to see the development of small satellites and the type of imagery they can deliver.

Summary

It is exciting to see new developments in terms of facilities and new capabilities in sensors to show how the industry continues to innovate. However, concerns exist for colleagues working in the sector, especially in the United States, and what the coming weeks might bring.