Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): LatConnect 60 (LC60), an earth observation and data fusion company founded by Malaysians and based in Perth, Australia, is going to work with Gilmour Space Technologies in Queensland to build and launch the first microsatellite in a planned high-resolution hyperspectral imaging constellation.

"The smart satellites will be placed in 30-degree inclined orbits for frequent revisit data capture over earth's equatorial and mid-latitude regions," according to a statement from the companies on Tuesday.

The agreement for what is called the HyperSight 60 constellation project by the Australian companies was announced at the 37th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, US, which is an annual meeting that brings together space leaders from around the world.

Gilmour Space will, under the agreement, develop the first 100kg HyperSight 60 satellite on its G-class satellite bus (G-Sat), which will be launched on Gilmour’s Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland, which is ideally located to place satellites into equatorial and mid-inclined orbits. The microsatellite and subsequent constellation will be owned and operated by LC60.

The first HyperSight 60 microsatellite is planned for launch in the fourth quarter of 2024. Once the entire eight-satellite constellation is operational, an hourly revisit rate will be possible at mid-latitude locations between 30 degrees north and south in Australia, Asia, South America, and Africa.

This revisit, combined with the spectral bands collected in high- and medium-spatial resolution, will deliver timely information-rich insights for agriculture, forestry, environmental, mineral/oil and gas, climate change, maritime, and defence applications.

“HyperSight 60 will deliver geospatial insights for mid-latitude areas at a level of detail and frequency not possible with other commercial remote sensing systems. The addition of Gilmour Space to the LC60 team contributes significantly to the future success of our ambitious plans,” said LC60 CEO and one of its founders, Venkat Pillay.

“This agreement would be our second G-class satellite mission on Eris, and we’re excited to be working with the pioneering team at LC60 to bring this significant capability to market,” said Gilmour Space CEO Adam Gilmour.

Established in 2019, LC60 owns exclusive rights to 80cm imagery captured over Australia, with global access from a high-resolution multispectral satellite. The company has leveraged this imagery, along with other geospatial data sets, to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-based data fusion and analysis algorithms for a variety of applications.

It is currently delivering insights it gleans from its work to assist Southeast Asian palm and rubber plantations in improving productivity, while enhancing environmental sustainability.

It is also focused on designing “smart” satellites equipped with onboard AI-based computing technology. For the HyperSight 60 constellation, this will enable “tip-and-cue” capabilities among satellites within the constellation and allow pre-processing of data, including radiometric and geometric correction, to occur in orbit before the data is downlinked to the ground, its statement read.

“For HyperSight 60 and other planned LC60 constellations, our unique approach to onboard AI sensors, combined with advanced data fusion on the ground, will fill gaps in the insights that can be gleaned from current remote sensing systems,” said Pillay.

Edited ByTan Choe Choe
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