Artist’s rendition of a satellite – paulfleet/123RF Stock Photo
This week we’re looking at some first light images, latest Earth Observation (EO) satellite launch, together with potential launches coming up next month.
First Light Satellite Images
Earlier this year we noted the launched of the EOS SAT-1 as part of SpaceX’s sixth rideshare mission, and last week the first light images have been released. The satellite is managed by the American company EOS Data Analytics, and was built by Dragonfly Aerospace, and is an optical satellite offering multispectral imaging with a ground resolution of 2.8 m for multispectral bands and 1.4 m in panchromatic mode. It has 11 spectral bands, and apart from the RGB bands it offers two near-infrared bands, three RedEdge bands, together with bands for water vapour, aerosols and a panchromatic band.
The satellite has an agricultural focus and can monitor up to one million square kilometres of ground each day, and its datasets include soil moisture, vegetation health, biomass and yield predictions, to help improve crop health and yield, alongside limiting the use of water and developing sustainable agriculture methods.
The first images can be seen here and show South Africa’s oldest city of Cape Town. This satellite is the first of a future constellation that will eventually be seven strong, with the remaining six satellites to be launched over the next few years. Once fully operational, it aims to monitor ninety percent of the planets farmlands and forests every five days.
Latest Earth Observation Satellite Launches
Russia successfully launched the Kondor-FKA 1 EO satellite on Friday 26th May on a Soyuz-2 rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome site. The satellite, also known as Kosmos 2569, is a radar satellite with an S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) offering a ground resolution of 1 to 2 m in spotlight mode, 1 to 3 m in stripmap mode, and 5 to 30 m in ScanSAR mode; and it has a swath width of 10 km.
It was developed by the NPO Mashinostroyeniya corporation and is a civilian version of Kondor-E satellite. There is expected to be a second satellite launched in the next eighteen months, and two further launches are planned for the end of the decade. The data will be focused on applications such as surface mapping, environmental monitoring, and natural resource exploration.
Potential Launches In June
June is looking like an interesting month for EO launches, as the schedule includes:
- 8th – 10th June is the next planned SpaceX rideshare mission with a number of interesting EO payloads already listed.
- SARah 2 and – 3, are SAR missions for the German military, expected to launch during the month.
- WorldView Legion- 1 and 2 are also scheduled for a June launch.
In addition, SpaceX is expected to continue launching satellites for thier Starlink constellation.
Summary
There is always something new and exciting happening in the EO sector, with new satellites and new imagery coming onto the scene.
