Earth Observation Portal Update: Launches, Satellites, Articles April - June 2024
Activity Report
The period April - June 2024 saw a number of updates and additions to the EO Portal. Four new launches have taken place over the period including notably SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Bandwagon-1 and Transporter-10 missions. 12 new EO Portal articles covering missions and thematic topics have been published, and more than 40 articles have been updated with new information.
Summary
Recent Satellite Launches
Four new Earth observation satellites were launched between April and June 2024.
GaoJing / SuperView
Siwei Gaojing 3-01 (SuperView Neo 3-01) was launched on a Long March 2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 4:12 UTC, April 15 2024 (00:12 EST).
NewSat
NewSat-46 (TSAT-1A) was successfully launched to orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Bandwagon-1 mission from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on April 8, 2024 at 00:16 UTC.
EarthCARE
EarthCARE launched on May 28, 2024 onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 22:20 UTC. The satellite successfully separated from the launcher’s upper stage approximately ten minutes after launch.
GOES-R
GOES-U was launched on June 25, 2024, on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, at 21:26 UTC.
Newest Mission Articles
Over the period, 8 new EO, three Non-EO missions and one Other Space Activities missions articles were added to the EO Portal. The new EO missions describe important new capabilities in environmental concerns monitoring from atmospheric conditions, wildfires, desertification, heatwaves, volcanic activity and other conditions that can trigger natural disasters, collection of multispectral medium-resolution, high resolution and near real-time SAR and low cost scatterometer imagery, technology demonstration and Earth’s ionosphere observation.
The new Non-EO missions articles describe new important capabilities in investigating Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and atmospheric escape, observations of different forms of water on the Moon, and in providing broadband coverage to the Arctic.
EO Missions
WildfireSat
WildFireSat is a Canadian infrared satellite system in development by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). It aims to monitor wildfires in Canada and provide more precise air quality and smoke condition information. The WildFireSat system will consist of one or more microsatellites in Low Earth Orbit, each carrying a purpose built multispectral radiometer.
STORK
STORK is a Polish CubeSat constellation planned to consist of 14 satellites built by SatRevolution S.A. Currently, five STORK satellites have been launched with STORK-1 and -2 still operational two years after launch. Once completed, the STORK constellation will collect multispectral medium-resolution imagery and Earth observation data, as well as host Earth observation technology payloads for agricultural and energy customers.
Intuition-1
Launched in November 2023, Intuition-1 is a commercial nanosatellite mission of KP Labs, a Polish Aerospace company. It is a technology demonstration mission for a novel onboard data processing unit and an advanced, 192-band hyperspectral camera.
PRISMA 2nd Gen
The Second Generation Hyperspectral Applications Precursor Mission (PRISMA2GEN) is a hyperspectral remote imaging mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and the successor to the original PRISMA mission. The mission will collect high resolution hyperspectral imagery and will consist of two satellites: the high performance PRISMA2GEN satellite, and an accompanying satellite, designated Platino-4 (PLT-4), an all-electric small platform satellite that will collect complementary hyperspectral imagery to assist with PRISMA2GEN data processing.
ALISIO-1
ALISIO-1 (Advanced Land-Imaging Satellite for Infrared Observations) is the first Canary Islands satellite, led by the IACTEC-Space team at IAC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias) under the ALISIO Space Programme. Designed and built in collaboration with Open Cosmos, ALISIO-1 was launched on the 1st of December 2023 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket. Via an optical camera, the satellite observes a variety of environmental concerns from atmospheric conditions, wildfires, desertification, heatwaves, volcanic activity and other conditions that can trigger natural disasters.
QPS-SAR Constellation
QPS-SAR of the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS) is a Japanese commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation that will provide high resolution and near real-time SAR imagery. The company began launching satellites into the constellation in December 2019 with QPS-SAR No.1 ‘Izanagi’.
Ionosphera-M
Ionosphera-M, or Ionosfera-M, is a satellite constellation consisting of four satellites owned and operated by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. The constellation aims to observe the Earth’s ionosphere and improve our understanding of geomagnetic and solar storms, and their impact on Earth.
Veery Satellite Constellation
The Veery Constellation is a commercial mission from the US-based company Care Weather that aims to provide low cost scatterometer imagery through a constellation of microsatellites. The constellation currently consists of 15 pathfinder and technology demonstration satellites, with the earliest launched in March 2021.
Non-EO Missions
Escapade (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers)
EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) is a planned dual-spacecraft mission of the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and NASA, which aims to investigate Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and atmospheric escape. The mission consists of two identical spacecraft, nicknamed ‘Blue’ and ‘Gold’, both provided by Rocket Lab.
Lunar Trailblazer
Lunar Trailblazer is a NASA lunar orbiter mission that will develop understanding of the lunar water cycle and geology, by making observations of different forms of water on the Moon with a spacecraft developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Arctic Broadband Satellite Mission
The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) of Space Norway is a planned dual satellite mission that aims to provide broadband coverage to the Arctic. The mission is jointly operated by Space Norway’s subsidiary HEOSAT, Viasat, and the US Space Force (USSF), with the satellites developed by Northrop Grumman.
Newest Thematic Articles
Over the period, three new articles added to the EO Portal covering thematic topics that tie together articles from across the EO Portal. These explore spaceborne technologies, data products, and related missions associated with Lightning measurements, Cloud Profile and Rain Radars, and the measurement of aboveground biomass from space. An article was also published highlighting the importance of historical data archives, and the systems needed to maintain these archives.
Lightning Sensors
Global lightning monitoring before satellite observations was only performed in a limited capacity by ground-based radio frequency (RF) sensors. However, due to the poor range of ground-based sensors, oceans and low-population areas were poorly sampled. Since being introduced, Earth-observing satellites with lightning sensors have provided widespread observations across the globe. Lightning-observing satellites in a geostationary orbit have the benefit of observing areas more equally, and also being able to observe a storm throughout its entire lifetime.
Cloud Profile and Rain Radars
The ability to make weather observations has developed significantly in recent years, to the point where we now have an intricate network of instruments, including ground-based radar, weather balloons, and satellites. Using these tools we are able to, at a global scale, quantitatively observe patterns of weather such as the shape, extent, and behaviour of clouds and rain, and thus make statistical predictions of the likelihood of near- and mid-future weather scenarios.
Ozone hole
The “ozone hole” describes the reduced amount of ozone in the localised area above Antarctica that appears annually from August to December. This leads to a higher percentage of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the Earth’s surface over this region, adversely affecting human health and the environment.
Most satellites measure ozone levels by subtracting the UV reflected by Earth, from the incoming UV from the sun. This difference in energy is representative of the energy absorbed by the ozone. Therefore, the greater the energy difference, the greater the ozone concentration.
Historical Data Archives
EO data archives are a vital component of the calibration and validation of climate models, as they rely on historical data to validate their accuracy and calibrate parameters. Long term archives of climate data are used for ‘hind-casting’, where models are calibrated against a known set of past conditions, and receive known inputs of climate conditions at each time step. The model outputs can then be compared against observed conditions, provided by preserved climate data, to test or verify their accuracy. Climate modelling is hugely significant not only in making predictions of future weather patterns, but also in experimenting with climate outcomes. Effective climate models allow the simulation of a multitude of scenarios, for example, projecting the course of continued global warming, as well as the impact of different mitigation strategies, without the cost of real-world implementation.
Other Updates
A number of other articles have been updated between April and June 2024. See below a summary of major updates made.
AlSat: AISAT-2 and 2B’s mass specification was updated. Read more
Virgin Orbit: New information about the Start Me Up launch, performed from Spaceport Cornwall in England has been added. Read more
ArgoMoon: New information about ArgoMoon’s launch on board NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) as part of the Artemis 1 mission has been added. Read more
LunaH-Map: Details about the launch have been added, alongside other information. Read more
Lunar IceCube: New information about the launch has been added. Read more
Harmony: Article was improved to include more details on the mission purpose and orbital details. Read more
SHERPA: New information was added to address the acquisition of Spaceflight Inc., as well as information about the new launches.
HySIS: An update was provided regarding the first light image from HySIS acquired at NRSC (National Remote Sensing Center). Information about spectral bands was also updated. Read more
CHIME: Included ESA’s video premiere for the CHIME satellite: “How will space transform the global food system?”. Read more
PROBA-V: Updated to include the latest information on the Proba-V Companion Cubesat.Read more
GHOSt: New information and images about the release of the first-light imagery from the two hyperspectral satellites, GHOSt-4 and 5, launched on March 4, 2024, was added. Read more
NewSat: Article was updated with new information about the launches that took place between June 2023 and April 2024. Read more
ICEYE: New information about the ICEYE-X36, X37, X38 launches in March 2024, has been added.Read more
StriX: Article updated to include the latest launch details. A video about Rocket Lab’s 'Owl Night Long' Launch was also added. Read more
Spire Global: New information about all the Lemur satellites launched between November 2023 and March 2024 was added. Read more
NanoSatC-Br1: An update was provided on the status of the mission, regarding the degradation of the batteries. The satellite can only transmit beacons in sunlight, due to the batteries no longer holding the minimum voltage required to operate nominally. Read more
TROPICS: New information about TROPICS-03, 05, 06 and 07’s launches in 2023 has been added. An update on the TROPICS-07 status was provided, whose scan failed one month after launch. TROPICS-05 is currently being calibrated with scans soon to be ready. Information about the TROPICS-03 and TROPICS-06 Provisional Data Products Release was also included. TROPICS-01 ceased science operations due to the effects of a solar radiation event that no longer allows the CubeSat to generate science data. Read more