US: Surrey Satellite Technology US has introduced Surrey V1C color video-imaging satellite that has a compact design and offers high-quality imaging at sub-one-meter resolution. Priced at less than $20 million, the surrey V1C satellite will collect high-definition, natural-color (red, green, blue) video with better than one-meter ground sample distance (GSD) resolution over a 10-kilometer-wide swath at up to 100 frames per second.
The primary use of video imaging from space is to quickly understand activity on the ground and make informed decisions in short periods of time. The company claims that the basic limitation of time-over-target for video can be overcome by a constellation of satellites made economically feasible by a low cost per spacecraft.
In addition to video, the camera can operate in still scene imager mode. The Surrey V1C spacecraft is based on the new SSTL-X50 satellite bus designs. The satellite has large onboard data storage capabilities for store and forward as well as real-time downlink technology.
Source: Surrey Satellite Technology US
