Wed, Sep 28, 2016
Paves The Way For 60-Satellite Constellation To Deliver High-Resolution Satellite Imaging
The BlackSky Pathfinder-1 satellite was successfully launched into a sun synchronous orbit from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Monday.
The Spaceflight Industries launch team confirmed reliable, successful signal acquisition and is continuing to monitor communications from its operations center in Seattle.
“This is a major accomplishment for our company – one that we’ve been steadily working towards since we conceived of the BlackSky business in 2013,” said Jason Andrews, chief executive officer of Spaceflight Industries. “The Pathfinders will provide us critical insight into how our early architecture performs from space so we can continue to improve and expand upon our technology. Meanwhile, the satellites are a testament to the future capabilities of the BlackSky constellation to support the activities essential to satellite imaging, such as tasking, collecting, processing and distributing images.”
Built by Spaceflight Industries, Pathfinder-1 and 2 are key demonstration satellites for BlackSky’s planned 60-satellite constellation. (Pathfinder-2 is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.) The first three commercially operational satellites are scheduled for launch in 2017, with the complete constellation on orbit by 2020.
The Pathfinder earth imaging satellites are approximately the size of a mini refrigerator and weigh 50 kg. Equipped with payloads from Harris Corporation, they are designed to image an area approximately 4.4km x 6.6km at 1-meter resolution. By using the BlackSky global intelligence platform, customers can access a wide range of satellite data and geospatial imagery. Once deployed, the BlackSky constellation will provide near real-time images in about 90 minutes for approximately $90, a price that is currently unmatched in the market. The ability to pass over areas of interest at an hourly revisit rate will produce images that are more current and wide-ranging to increase global transparency.
(Images provided with BlackSky Industries news release)
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]
Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative
See All