UK Satellite to Make Movies from Space
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UK Satellite to Make Movies from Space

A British satellite has gone into orbit on an Indian rocket to acquire full-colour, high-definition video of the surface of the Earth. The mission is expected to pave the way for a series of at least 15 such spacecraft, which will be operated by Earth-i.

The forthcoming constellation - which will be known as Vivid-i - will be the first of its kind to provide hi-def, full-colour video. The satellite will circle the globe at an altitude of 505km.

It has the ability to point and stare at a particular location. It can take a still picture or gather two-minute movie sequences. “We can collect up to 50 frames per second which is a lot of information,” explained Earth-i CEO Richard Blain. “That allows us to stack the individual images and increase our effective resolution, achieving somewhere around 65cm to 75cm.”

This is more than sharp enough to see moving objects like cars and ships. Image analysts could use such views to monitor and model traffic flow around cities, and in and out of ports. But the system can also be configured to generate slightly offset images of a target which can then be assembled into 3D models of surface elevation. This approach could be used to make urgent maps for relief teams entering an earthquake disaster zone, for example.

Detecting changes in near real-time is expected to be a burgeoning market for space data and this is only possible when you have a train of spacecraft constantly passing overhead. At the moment, Earth-i's plan is to put up additional batches of five spacecraft every year or so after the initial quintet have been launched at the end of 2019. With a 15-satellite constellation, Earth-i could image a particular place at least three times a day.

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