Satellogic, the first company to develop a scalable Earth observation platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, has announced the launch of a new spacecraft from the Guiana Space Center via a launch procured by Spaceflight, Inc. The satellite, a NewSat Mark IV, was delivered to a sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit on a Vega rocket from Arianespace at 1:51am UTC on September 3, 2020.

The spacecraft is named “Hypatia” after the philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria and was a symbol of learning and science. She was renowned in her own lifetime as a great teacher and a wise counselor and became seen as an icon for women’s rights and a precursor to the feminist movement.

In line with Satellogic’s NewSats already in orbit, Hypatia is equipped with sub-meter multispectral and 30-meter hyperspectral cameras. This NewSat Mark IV is also equipped with new technologies in service of Satellogic’s research and development of Earth-observation capabilities. Upon successful commissioning, these new capabilities will be available to existing Satellogic customers.

The launch demonstrates Satellogic’s ability to adapt its satellites to different rockets and deployment systems. This mission will also allow Satellogic to test sub-meter imaging technology. Satellogic’s current constellation remaps the planet at high resolution, which combined with Satellogic’s low-cost offering, has opened up applications for its customers across industries. Through the refinement of sub-meter imaging, the company plans to further drive down the cost of high-frequency geospatial analytics.

“We design and build our own satellites, which gives our R and D teams the chance to validate new technologies in every launch. Each new generation of our satellites includes new products and further delivers on the promise of new space,” said Satellogic Founder and CTO, Gerardo Richarte.

“This launch is an exciting indicator of all that is to come as we continue to bring new solutions into production and deliver them into space and to our customers.”

The news follows Satellogic’s launch in January 2020 of two spacecraft with China Great Wall Industry Corporation. With this launch, Satellogic now has 11 satellites in orbit, bringing the company closer to its established vision of a constellation capable of delivering weekly, high-resolution remaps of the entire planet at a price that will set a new standard for access and affordability in this market.

“Ambitious research and development efforts are crucial to both the development of the space industry and to humanity’s advancement overall,” said Stephane Israel, CEO of Arianespace.

“We’re proud to work with Spaceflight to launch Satellogic’s newest satellite, which will enable Satellogic to test technologies that have the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of high-resolution, high-frequency geospatial insights.”

Satellogic’s team of world-class data scientists is already leveraging its current fleet of spacecraft to deliver planetary scale insights and solutions for a variety of industries, including agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, and finance and insurance, among others.

This additional satellite will deliver data to help meet the growing demand for Satellogic’s data services and solutions and will also serve Dedicated Satellite Constellation customers in 2020.

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Satellite constellations could hinder astronomical research, scientists warn

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 25, 2020

SpaceX has so far sent a few hundred of Starlink broadband satellites into orbit, but the aerospace company has plans for a constellation featuring thousands of small satellites – and this has researchers concerned.
A report published Tuesday by the Satellite Constellations 1 workshop, an effort organized by the National Science Foundation and the American Astronomical Society, says the constellation could be bad news for astronomers and their research.
“The main takeaway from our findi … read more