Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a CubeSat designed to collect the Earth’s radiation imbalance measurements for use in climate change predictions. Johns Hopkins APL’s Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes CubeSat is one of the seven small-satellite payloads that took off on Nov. 11 aboard the United Launch Alliance-made Atlas V rocket, APL […] More

Orbital Insight has raised $20 million in total funds for the development of algorithms that work to analyze satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle-based imagery in order to generate data-driven insights for use in decision making. The Palo Alto, California-based company secured $15 million in a GV-led funding round and another $5 million through a development […] More

DigitalGlobe, Harris, PrecisionHawk and Verizon have combined their technologies to demonstrate airspace services the companies intend for use in unmanned aerial vehicle operations. PrecisionHawk said Monday the test incorporated Verizon’s LTE network, Harris’ Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast and aircraft surveillance network, DigitalGlobe’s geospatial big data platform and PrecisionHawk’s Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety platform. “We are leveraging […] More

Research and Markets predicts that the global satellite-based Earth observation market will achieve a 13.23-percent compound annual growth rate over a five-year period ending 2019. The company said Friday the report points to the growing application base for satellite data leading to the increasing number of launches of Earth observation satellites, which is the key market driver. […] More

Six companies will participate in a public-private sector partnership initiative launched by U.S. Strategic Command to monitor satellite launches and daily operations in an effort to build up collaboration in space programs, Air Force Times reported Wednesday. Phillip Swarts writes Inmarsat, SES Government Solutions, Intelsat, Eutelsat, DigitalGlobe and Iridium Communications will work at the Joint Space Operations Center […] More

Erin Hawley serves as director of national security programs at Cloudera, an integrator of open source technologies such as Hadoop for federal agencies and commercial businesses. Hawley joined Cloudera in December 2011 after five years at Composite Software and is also a veteran of firms such as Blackboard and Sun Microsystems. In this conversation with […] More

The IKONOS imaging satellite made by Lockheed Martin for DigitalGlobe has been retired after nearly two decades of gathering and sharing more than 400 square kilometres of images of the Earth’s surface. The satellite, launched in September 1999, concluded its operation on March 31 after 15 years of collecting high-resolution images used in mapping, agriculture, […] More

Exelis has introduced a suite of small form factor imaging systems designed to produce high-resolution satellite imagery. The release is part of the company’s push in the intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and analytics market, Exelis said Wednesday. Rob Mitrevski, vice president and general manager of Exelis’ environmental intelligence and integrated sensing solutions business, said the company aims […] More

Scott Smith, chief operating officer at Iridium Communications, has added an additional role as a part-time operating partner for private equity firm Bessemer Venture Partners. He will work to help Bessemer advise clients in the space technology sector while retaining his role at Iridium, Bessemer Venture Partners said Monday. Smith previously served as COO at DigitalGlobe and as […] More

A new Research and Markets report predicts an increase in adoption of analytics in the satellite-based Earth observation services market in the U.S. The market is expected to grow at a 7.65 percent compound annual rate between 2015 and 2019, Research and Markets said Tuesday. The report also attributes the overall market growth to what […] More

A.J. Clark, president of Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, has outlined what he sees as benefits of geospatial big data to different commercial markets and the federal government. Clark wrote in a Defense Systems op-ed posted Monday that agencies can use commercial data to monitor trends and patterns instead of through their own sensors. He cited the geospatial imagery DigitalGlobe provides to the National Geospatial-Intelligence […] More

DigitalGlobe has released a new series images taken by its WorldView-3 satellite with the Exelis‘ shortwave infrared imager, which works to capture images through atmospheric conditions such as smoke. Exelis said Wednesday that the imaging system — which contains the SWIR, a telescope and sensors – captured the image of a forest fire at the Klamath National Forest in California through thick smoke. “SWIR can remove some […] More