RapidEye
Encyclopedia
MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. is a Richmond, British Columbia-based Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, employing over 3000 people throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the MDA brand name....
of Richmond, Canada. Originally located in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, the company relocated 60 km southwest of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to Brandenburg an der Havel in 2004.
History
1996: The RapidEye business concept was designed by Kayser-Threde GmbH, based on a call for ideas from the DLRGerman Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany. Its headquarters are located in Cologne. It is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in...
(German Aerospace Agency), on how to commercialize remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
in Germany.
1998: RapidEye was established as an independent company in Munich with seed financing from a few private investors and Vereinigte Hagelversicherung, a German agricultural insurance provider.
2004: Funding was secured for the RapidEye satellite constellation and ground segment with the help of the European Union, the State of Brandenburg (Germany), a banking consortium consisting of Commerzbank, EDC (Export Development Canada) and KfW Banking Group.
Through a contract with the CCC (Canadian Commercial Corporation), MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA)
MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. is a Richmond, British Columbia-based Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, employing over 3000 people throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the MDA brand name....
was awarded the contract as the prime contractor to build RapidEye's satellite system.
RapidEye relocated their business to Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.
2008: RapidEye earned ISO 9001:2000 certification in April from TÜV Nord. On August 29, 2008, a DNEPR-1 rocket (a refurbished ICBM missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
), was successfully launched from Baikonur
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan carrying RapidEye's constellation of five Earth observation satellites designed and implemented by MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA)
MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. is a Richmond, British Columbia-based Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, employing over 3000 people throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the MDA brand name....
of Richmond, Canada.
2009: After the satellites completed their MPAR phase (consisting of testing and calibration) they became commercially operational in February 2009.
2011: RapidEye files for bancruptcy protection on 2011-05-30.
2011: RapidEye Canada Ltd. of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada acquired RapidEye AG on the 29th of August.
Applications
RapidEye provides geospatial information-based management solutions to the following industries:Agriculture – The RapidEye constellation is capable of field based, regional or global scale agricultural monitoring on a frequent revisit cycle. The information derived from the imagery can assist farmers in precision farming
Precision agriculture
Precision farming or precision agriculture is a farming management concept based on observing and responding to intra-field variations.It relies on new technologies like satellite imagery, information technology, and geospatial tools...
operations, agricultural insurers in damage assessment and risk management, or governments in food security
Food security
Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past...
and environmental compliance
Environmental compliance
Environmental Compliance means conforming to environmental laws, regulations, standards and other requirements. In recent years, environmental concerns have led to a significant increase in the number and scope of compliance imperatives across all global regulatory environments...
monitoring.
Forestry – Satellite based information is increasingly being used by governments and commercial operators to assess forest status, measure the environmental and economical sustainability of forest operations and monitor illegal logging
Illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...
and deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
.
Security & Emergency - Fast turnaround of imagery showing current ground conditions following a natural or man-made disaster is essential for crisis management authorities in assessing the situation and helping to better coordinate rescue teams.
Environment – Satellite imagery can provide valuable information to governmental agencies or industries, that monitor the environmental impact of human activities.
Spatial Solutions – RapidEye satellite imagery is used as background imagery for a variety of purposes including mapping, navigation, flight simulation, gaming and as an integral component in geospecific 3D modeling.
Energy & Infrastructure - The RapidEye constellation can monitor pipeline and transmission corridors and identify problems on the ground such as vegetation encroachment, nearby buildings, development of roads or leaks. It can provide land cover and land use classification data to telecommunication firms to assist in planning their antenna network.
Satellites
Five Identical Satellites: Built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL)Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a spin-off company of the University of Surrey, now fully owned by EADS Astrium, that builds and operates small satellites. Its satellites began as amateur radio satellites known by the UoSAT name or by an OSCAR designation...
of Guildford, subcontracted by MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA)
MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. is a Richmond, British Columbia-based Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, employing over 3000 people throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the MDA brand name....
, each satellite is based on an evolution of the flight-proven MicroSat-100 bus. Each satellite measures less than one cubic meter and weighs 150 kg (bus + payload).
Each of RapidEye's five satellites contain identical sensors, are equally calibrated and travel on the same orbital plane (at an altitude of 630 km). Together, the 5 satellites are capable of collecting over 4 million km² of 5 m resolution, 5-band color imagery every day.
Sensors: The Jena-Optronik multi-spectral
Multi-spectral image
A multispectral image is one that captures image data at specific frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or by the use of instruments that are sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond the visible light range,...
imager, the Jena Spaceborne Scanner JSS 56, is a pushbroom sensor
Push broom scanner
A Push broom scanner is a technology for obtaining satellite images with optical cameras. It is used for passive remote sensing from space. In a push broom sensor, a line of sensors arranged perpendicular to the flight direction of the spacecraft is used. Different areas of the surface are imaged...
carried on each satellite. Each sensor is capable of collecting image data in five distinct bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: Blue (440-510 nm), Green (520-590 nm), Red (630-690 nm), Red-Edge (690-730 nm) and Near-Infrared (760-880 nm). The nominal resolution on the ground is 5 meters, corresponding to NIIRS
NIIRS
The National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale is a subjective scale used for rating the quality of imagery acquired from various types of imaging systems. The NIIRS defines different levels of image quality/interpretability based on the types of tasks an analyst can perform with images of a...
2.
RapidEye's satellites are the first commercial satellites to include the Red-Edge
Red edge
Red edge refers to the region of rapid change in reflectance of chlorophyll in the near infrared range. Vegetation absorbs most of the light in the visible part of the spectrum but is strongly reflective at wavelengths greater than 700 nm. The change can be from 5% to 50% reflectance between 680 nm...
band, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. Studies show that this band can assist in monitoring vegetation health, improve species separation and help in measuring protein and nitrogen content in biomass.
Technical Specifications
Overview- Number of Satellites: 5
- Spacecraft Lifetime: 7 years
- Orbit Altitude: 630 km in Sun-synchronous orbit
- Global Revisit Time: 1 Day
- Inclination: 97.8 degrees (solar-synchron)
- Equator Crossing Time: 11:00 am (approximately)
- Ground sampling distance (nadir): 6,5 m
- Pixel size (orthorectified): 5 m
- Swath Width: 77 km
- On board data storage: Up to 1500 km of image data per orbit
- Image capture capacity: 4 million sq km/day
Sensor Performance Specifications:
- 440 – 510 nm (Blue)
- 520 – 590 nm (Green)
- 630 – 685 nm (Red)
- 690 – 730 nm (Red Edge)
- 760 – 850 nm (Near IR)