From the category archives:
The mergers and acquisitions within the geospatial technology space are white hot right now, with news today that GeoEye has approached DigitalGlobe in order to acquire and combine companies. The result would be the world’s largest commercial high-resolution satellite company, with streamlined operations that would ensure viability in the face of deep federal cuts. In [...]
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The Natural Research Council has just released a detailed report that cautions about a decline in U.S. earth observation capacity. In a time of tightened budgets, many of the long-running missions are coming to a close, with follow-on missions delayed or canceled. The report follows a similar effort five years ago, with the title, “Earth [...]
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Wubbo Ockels, former astronaut and professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at the Delft University, Netherlands spoke this morning at the Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam. As a former astronaut for The Netherlands, he has a unique perspective regarding the responsibility that we have for our planet, having gone beyond the bounds of [...]
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There’s a feature in today’s New York Times that outlines the battle that is brewing in Congress to defend the use of commercial satellite imagery for intelligence gathering. The president’s budget as submitted reduces the Enhanced View program spending by more than half from $540 million to $250 million. The director of the National Reconnaissance [...]
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The coincidence of Shuttle Discovery flying over Washington monuments to be retired and go on public display, with today’s 28th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, provides a good contrast regarding the country’s plans and ambitions with space and earth observation. Most of the speakers at this opening day of the symposium made some mention [...]
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Vancouver-based UrtheCast aims to commercialize high-resolution video from space by installing HD cameras aboard the International Space Station. The cameras are in production now, with plans to install by the end of 2012. The company has recently signed a $4.2 million contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates to build some of the hardware and data [...]
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News today that Trimble has acquired Belgium-based unmanned aerial vehicle maker Gatewing marks an important milestone in the commercialization of drone-based map data collection. There’s a growing interest in these low-cost mapping platforms, particularly given the FAA’s relaxation of laws that have prohibited their expansion in the United States. This continued industry consolidation by Trimble [...]
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The European Space Agency designed and developed, along with with Dutch company Cosine, a motorized tripod called NightPod to take nighttime images of the Earth. Prior to this device, the speed of the space station made picture taking difficult due to the speed of the Space Station and the low shutter speeds required to capture light [...]
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Eyes on Earth is an interactive visualization site for images and data from NASA’s 15 currently operating earth satellites. There are a number of new features, with timelines, an image gallery, an improved interface, and up-to-date data for sea level height and surface temperature. The aim is a daily view view of our dynamic planet [...]
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Cal-Adapt is a data clearinghouse and visualization portal that consolidates details related to climate change and impacts for the state of California, bringing global issues down to the local level. The website provides details to the general public, to local planners, and to researchers (with access to raw data). The site includes more than 150 [...]
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