Home -> In the Spotlight -> RapidEye AG ready to send its Constellation of Five Satellites into Orbit
RapidEye AG ready to send its Constellation of Five Satellites into Orbit
All five earth observation satellites will be sent into orbit on a DNEPR-1 launch vehicle, released into a shared orbit at 630km and will circle the globe 15 times daily. With the constellation designed with built-in redundancy and the use of high-technology sensors, RapidEye will be able to reliably deliver high-quality data from any point on earth every day. The space segment is supplemented by a satellite control center, processing and archiving systems. The collected imagery will be an integral part of providing important decision making tools for RapidEye's customers in industries such as agriculture, forestry and cartography.
Canadian space specialists MDA (MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.), have been the most important partner in the development of the RapidEye satellite system. As RapidEye's prime contractor, MDA has provided the acquisition planning and data pre-processing systems. They also perform all system engineering and program management tasks.
“This is also an important moment for us as a company”, says Steve Oldham, Vice President for Satellite Missions at MDA. “RapidEye is the first operational small satellite constellation developed by MDA. The development of the RapidEye constellation, including the ground planning and processing system, represents a breakthrough in offering world class data from a turn-key mission. We are proud to have worked with RapidEye to enable their mission.”
“The result of our cooperation with MDA is a satellite constellation that will collect massive amounts of earth observation data. We have the ability to cover an area over 11 times the size of Germany every day, and our satellites, which were constructed by British satellite specialists SSTL, will be controlled directly from our headquarters here in Brandenburg an der Havel,” comments Biedermann, “We will be able to deliver data about a customer's area of interest as often as they need it, quickly and at a very competitive cost.”
MDA has subcontracted Jena-Optronik GmbH of Jena, Germany to provide the multi-spectral pushbroom sensors that are the payload of the satellites. These “cameras” can produce earth observation data in five spectral bands: red, green, blue, near infrared and red edge. RapidEye's constellation are the first commercial satellites to feature the red edge band. The combination of these five spectral bands is ideally suited to monitor vegetation conditions and to detect growth anomalies.
“With our system, we will close the gap that has been existent for a long time between the commercial and the scientific communities in the area of geoinformation services, as our imagery is the next generation of optical earth observation,” continues Biedermann, “This is why our data products have been highly anticipated in many different markets.”
This is also being confirmed by Vereinigte Hagel, the European market leader in agricultural insurance, who recognized the benefit of new technologies in remote sensing at an early stage. The company, located in
Thunderstorm frequency and intensity have been increasing in recent years, and are a threat to agricultural crops of every kind. For farmers, risk management by insuring against the forces of nature is essential. If the extent of damage after a disastrous weather event can be defined rapidly and precisely, the compensation due back to the farmers can be assessed more quickly and accurately, pleasing both the company and the customer.
Internet: www.rapideye.de
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