Earth-i Releases First Full Colour Video of Earth from Space

‘New Space’ pioneer Earth-i has released the first video taken by VividX2, the technology prototype for its Vivid-i constellation. Launched on 12 January 2018, VividX2 is the world’s first commercial satellite able to provide full-colour video of life on Earth.

Weighing 100kg and measuring approximately 1 cubic metre, VividX2 is orbiting at 505km above the Earth and travelling at approximately 7km per second.

At the heart of the satellite is an Ultra High Definition (UHD) camera that captures high-resolution images for any location on Earth – and also films up to two minutes of video at a time as it passes over each target location.

The newly released video footage was taken as VividX2 passed over a range of targeted locations under its sun-synchronous polar orbit. The clips show videos of numerous different locations across the globe. The new videos and still images can be found at http://earthi.space/colourvideofromspace

Richard Blain, CEO of Earth-i, said: “Commercial colour video from space represents a major breakthrough for our industry and a world first. The depth and quality of data we can now acquire takes Earth Observation-based big data analytics to a new level. The way we capture video allows for a broader range of contextual insights to be derived than is possible with traditional still imagery. Furthermore, processing techniques such as image stacking, can be applied to high frame rate video to increase effective resolution to levels as good as 60cm for still and video imagery. With the rich data we are now getting from VividX2, we are maximising the use of computer vision and machine learning.”

Welcoming the news, Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency said: “The UK has a long history of innovation and is now demonstrating the world’s first commercial satellite that can capture full colour video of Earth from space. With applications ranging from defence to disaster response, it is a great example of the strength of the UK space sector which we continue to support as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.”

The current VividX2 mission is the product of a unique collaboration between Earth-i, the Ministry of Defence, Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (DSTL) and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL).

“Successful acquisition of the satellite’s first colour video from space is a pivotal moment in the development and deployment of this new technology, and work has already begun on the manufacture of the next batch of five production satellites for Earth-i’s Vivid-i constellation whilst they develop new applications from a stream of video data from VividX2,” said Sarah Parker, Managing Director of SSTL.

Earth-i is also investing heavily in its big data analytics systems to enable easy acquisition and analysis of imagery, and the use of advanced algorithms and machine learning to extract further value from the unique data gathered by its constellation.