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30-620: Today, RapidEye refers to the constellation of 5 Earth-observation satellites owned by Planet Labs . The RapidEye constellation was retired by Planet Labs in 2020. 1996: The RapidEye business concept was designed by Kayser-Threde GmbH , based on a call for ideas from the DLR (German Aerospace Agency), on how to commercialize remote sensing in Germany. 1998: RapidEye was established as an independent company in Munich with seed financing from

60-472: A common orbit; they are separated in orbit by 19-minute intervals. Five identical satellites are built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) of Guildford, subcontracted by MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) . Each satellite was based on an evolution of the flight-proven SSTL-100 bus, measured less than one cubic meter, and weighed 150 kg (bus + payload). Each of RapidEye's five satellites contained identical sensors, were equally calibrated, and traveled on

90-582: A few private investors and Vereinigte Hagelversicherung , a German agricultural insurance provider. 2004: In 2004, funding was secured for the RapidEye satellite constellation and ground segment with the help of the European Union , the State of Brandenburg (Germany) , a banking consortium consisting of Commerzbank , EDC ( Export Development Canada ) and KfW Banking Group . Through a contract with

120-492: A satellite to hover over a constant spot on the earth since the orbital period at this altitude is 24 hours. This allows uninterrupted coverage of more than 1/3 of the Earth per satellite, so three satellites, spaced 120° apart, can cover the whole Earth. This type of orbit is mainly used for meteorological satellites . Herman Potočnik explored the idea of using orbiting spacecraft for detailed peaceful and military observation of

150-574: Is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit , including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring , meteorology , cartography and others. The most common type are Earth imaging satellites , that take satellite images , analogous to aerial photographs ; some EO satellites may perform remote sensing without forming pictures, such as in GNSS radio occultation . The first occurrence of satellite remote sensing can be dated to

180-531: Is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth . These meteorological satellites, however, see more than clouds and cloud systems. City lights, fires , effects of pollution , auroras , sand and dust storms , snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents , energy flows, etc., are other types of environmental information collected using weather satellites. Weather satellite images helped in monitoring

210-519: Is classified in accordance with ITU Radio Regulations (article 1) as follows: Fixed service (article 1.20) The allocation of radio frequencies is provided according to Article 5 of the ITU Radio Regulations (edition 2012). In order to improve harmonisation in spectrum utilisation, the majority of service-allocations stipulated in this document were incorporated in national Tables of Frequency Allocations and Utilisations which

240-441: Is increasingly being used by governments and commercial operators to assess forest status, evaluate management strategies, measure the environmental and economical sustainability of forest operations, and monitor illegal logging and deforestation . Security and emergency – Fast turnaround of imagery showing current ground conditions following a natural or man-made disaster is essential for crisis management authorities in assessing

270-537: Is with-in the responsibility of the appropriate national administration. The allocation might be primary, secondary, exclusive, and shared. However, military usage, in bands where there is civil usage, will be in accordance with the ITU Radio Regulations. NIIRS The National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) is an American subjective scale used for rating the quality of imagery acquired from various types of imaging systems. The NIIRS defines different levels of image quality/interpretability based on

300-579: The Cold War prompted the rapid development of Satellite launch systems and camera technology capable of sufficient Earth observation to garner intelligence on enemy military infrastructure and evaluate nuclear posture. Following the U-2 incident in 1960, which highlighted the risks of aerial spying, the U.S. accelerated surveillance satellite programs like CORONA . Satellites largely replaced aircraft overflights for surveillance after 1960. A weather satellite

330-536: The MetOp spacecraft of EUMETSAT are all operated at altitudes of about 800 km (500 mi). The Proba-1 , Proba-2 and SMOS spacecraft of European Space Agency are observing the Earth from an altitude of about 700 km (430 mi). The Earth observation satellites of UAE, DubaiSat-1 & DubaiSat-2 are also placed in Low Earth orbits (LEO) orbits and providing satellite imagery of various parts of

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360-508: The CCC ( Canadian Commercial Corporation ) MDA was awarded the contract as the prime contractor to build RapidEye's satellite system. Originally located in Munich , the company relocated 60 km southwest of Berlin to Brandenburg an der Havel in 2004. 2008: RapidEye earned ISO 9001:2000 certification in April from TÜV Nord . On 29 August 2008, a Dnepr rocket (a refurbished ICBM ),

390-531: The Earth. To get global coverage with a low orbit, a polar orbit is used. A low orbit will have an orbital period of roughly 100 minutes and the Earth will rotate around its polar axis about 25° between successive orbits. The ground track moves towards the west 25° each orbit, allowing a different section of the globe to be scanned with each orbit. Most are in Sun-synchronous orbits . A geostationary orbit , at 36,000 km (22,000 mi), allows

420-515: The RapidEye constellation provided geospatial information to the following industries: Agriculture – The RapidEye constellation was capable of field based, regional or global scale agricultural monitoring on a frequent revisit cycle. The information derived from the imagery could assist farmers in precision farming operations, agricultural insurers in damage assessment and risk management, or governments in food security and environmental compliance monitoring. Forestry – Satellite-based information

450-453: The company announced that it has successfully relocated the company headquarters to Berlin, Germany. 2013 : On 6 November 2013 RapidEye officially changed its name to BlackBridge . 2014 : Blackbridge Ltd. announced a new constellation called RapidEye+. The constellation was never developed. 2015: Planet Labs acquired RapidEye. 2020: In April 2020, Planet Labs retired the RapidEye constellation. The constellation consisted of

480-583: The current vegetation state to its long term average. For example, the 2002 oil spill off the northwest coast of Spain was watched carefully by the European ENVISAT , which, though not a weather satellite, flies an instrument (ASAR) which can see changes in the sea surface. Anthropogenic emissions can be monitored by evaluating data of tropospheric NO 2 and SO 2 . These types of satellites are almost always in Sun-synchronous and "frozen" orbits. A Sun-synchronous orbit passes over each spot on

510-495: The discovery of the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts . The TIROS-1 spacecraft, launched on April 1, 1960, as part of NASA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) program, sent back the first television footage of weather patterns to be taken from space. In 2008, more than 150 Earth observation satellites were in orbit, recording data with both passive and active sensors and acquiring more than 10 terabits of data daily. By 2021, that total had grown to over 950, with

540-581: The electromagnetic spectrum: blue (440–510 nm), green (520–590 nm), red (630–690 nm), red-edge (690–730 nm) and near-infrared (760–880 nm). The nominal resolution on the ground was 6.5 meters, corresponding to NIIRS  2. RapidEye's satellites were the first commercial satellites to include the red-edge band, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. Studies show that this band can assist in monitoring vegetation health, improve species separation, and help in measuring protein and nitrogen content in biomass. Imagery from

570-408: The following satellites: RapidEye 1 (codename Tachys , COSPAR 2008-040C), RapidEye 2 (codename Mati , COSPAR 2008-040A), RapidEye 3 (codename Choma , COSPAR 2008-040D), RapidEye 4 (codename Choros , COSPAR 2008-040E), and RapidEye 5 (codename Trochia , COSPAR 2008-040B). All five satellites were launched simultaneously on a Dnepr rocket on 28 August 2008. All of the satellites share

600-460: The ground at the same time of day, so that observations from each pass can be more easily compared, since the Sun is in the same spot in each observation. A "frozen" orbit is the closest possible orbit to a circular orbit that is undisturbed by the oblateness of the Earth , gravitational attraction from the Sun and Moon, solar radiation pressure , and air drag . Terrain can be mapped from space with

630-494: The ground in his 1928 book, The Problem of Space Travel . He described how the special conditions of space could be useful for scientific experiments. The book described geostationary satellites (first put forward by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky ) and discussed communication between them and the ground using radio, but fell short of the idea of using satellites for mass broadcasting and as telecommunications relays. The onset of

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660-461: The largest number of satellites operated by US-based company Planet Labs . Most Earth observation satellites carry instruments that should be operated at a relatively low altitude. Most orbit at altitudes above 500 to 600 kilometers (310 to 370 mi). Lower orbits have significant air-drag , which makes frequent orbit reboost maneuvers necessary. The Earth observation satellites ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat of European Space Agency as well as

690-465: The launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 , by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 sent back radio signals, which scientists used to study the ionosphere . The United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1 , for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on January 31, 1958. The information sent back from its radiation detector led to

720-497: The same orbital plane (at an altitude of 630 km). Together, the five satellites were capable of collecting over 4 million km of 5 m resolution, 5-band color imagery every day. The Jena-Optronik multi-spectral imager, the Jena Spaceborne Scanner JSS ;56, was a pushbroom sensor carried on each satellite. Each sensor was capable of collecting image data in five distinct bands of

750-493: The situation and better coordinating rescue teams. Environment – Satellite imagery can provide valuable information to governmental agencies or industries that monitor the environmental impact of human activities. Spatial solutions – RapidEye satellite imagery was used as background imagery for a variety of purposes including mapping, navigation, flight simulation, gaming and as an integral component in geospecific 3D modeling. Energy and infrastructure – The RapidEye constellation

780-714: The types of tasks an analyst can perform with images of a given NIIRS rating. The idea is that imagery analysts should be able to perform more demanding interpretation tasks as the quality of the imagery increases. It is published as part of the Federation of American Scientists Intelligence Resource Program. The NIIRS consists of 10 levels, from 0 (worst quality) to 9 (best quality). Because different types of imagery support different types of interpretation tasks, individual NIIRS has been developed for four major imaging types: Visible, Radar , Infrared , and Multispectral . This standards - or measurement -related article

810-740: The use of satellites, such as Radarsat-1 and TerraSAR-X . According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Earth exploration-satellite service (also: Earth exploration-satellite radiocommunication service ) is – according to Article 1.51 of the ITU Radio Regulations (RR) – defined as: A radiocommunication service between earth stations and one or more space stations , which may include links between space stations, in which: This service may also include feeder links necessary for its operation. This radiocommunication service

840-478: The volcanic ash cloud from Mount St. Helens and activity from other volcanoes such as Mount Etna . Smoke from fires in the western United States such as Colorado and Utah have also been monitored. Other environmental satellites can assist environmental monitoring by detecting changes in the Earth's vegetation, atmospheric trace gas content, sea state, ocean color, and ice fields. By monitoring vegetation changes over time, droughts can be monitored by comparing

870-675: Was successfully launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan , carrying RapidEye's constellation of five Earth-observation satellites designed and implemented by MacDonald Dettwiler (now MDA ) of Richmond, Canada. 2009: After the satellites completed their MPAR phase (consisting of testing and calibration) they became commercially operational in February 2009. 2011 : RapidEye files for bankruptcy protection on 30 May. 2011 : Blackbridge Ltd. of Lethbridge, Alberta , Canada acquired RapidEye AG on 29 August. 2012 : On 18 December 2012

900-411: Was used to monitor pipeline and transmission corridors and identify problems on the ground such as vegetation encroachment, nearby buildings, development of roads, and leaks. It provided land cover and land use classification data to telecommunication firms to assist in planning their antenna network. Earth-observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite

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