Space Products & Innovation
Governance, Education, and Infrastructure
NASA’s SPHEREx telescope launches to explore universe origins
NASA’s SPHEREx telescope successfully launched it aims to study the structure of the universe and the origins of galaxies.
NASA lays off 5% of JPL staff amid budget tightening
NASA laid off more than 300 employees at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory amid a shrinking budget and an uncertain federal future.
Solving Space Junk Problem Could Net Federal Prize
A grand prize could be in the offing for inventors who come up with new methods to prevent orbiting debris or design tools that can clean up space junk, according to recommendations from the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
2016 – Saving Money with Old Rain Data
Satellite rainfall data might help Indian residents save money.
Products and Services: Space Products and Services – TSR 2015
Satellite Radar Helps UK police in critical searches
Whether using multispectral imagery from satellite imagery providers such as DigitalGlobe, or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) products from satellites such as the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) TerraSAR-X, law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and other countries are learning how crime-related investigations can benefit from satellite assistance. The constabulary is using SAR and imagery to reduce costs and time associated with conducting searches for hidden graves in urban locations.
Crowdsourcing the Search for a Missing Jet With Satellite Imagery
There are other ways to become even more involved with space activities. Satellite imagery companies are offering opportunities for people to provide imagery analysis. Crowdsourcing has become a key approach and has resulted in websites such as DigitalGlobe’s Tomnod.[
Conversations of Space Robots and Explorers in Social Media
Social media and space agency public relations worked together to bring awareness of space program activities by endowing personality to robots flying through space. “Namaste, @MarsOrbiter!” displayed a playful tenor in one of the first friendly greetings given to India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) satellite from NASA’s ground-hugging Mars Curiosity rover.
Space Products and Services – TSR 2014
Earth Observation Imagery Reduces Copper Thefts
The high-resolution imaging capabilities of satellites can be used to help power utilities with maintenance and planning. High rates of copper wiring theft at electrical substations motivated electricity company Dominion Virginia Power to hire DigitalGlobe Analytics for a solution. DigitalGlobe compiled satellite, air, and ground images of the electrical system and studied previous thefts to identify the next most likely targets. By improving security at these locations, which were primarily those near scrap metal businesses, copper theft was reduced by ##%.