UrtheCast has announced that its two Earth sensing cameras — a High Resolution Camera (HRC) that will produce one-metre, full colour videos, and a Medium Resolution Camera (MRC) that will produce six-metre, 50km wide images — have successfully passed initial functional testing. The cameras were successfully reinstalled on the International Space Station (ISS) on 27 January 2014 shown on a live feed that could be viewed from the company’s website.
The engineering teams from UrtheCast and RSC Energia have confirmed that camera data from both the MRC and HRC can now be successfully captured and stored in the company’s Data Handling Unit onboard the International Space Station (ISS), and downlinked to the ground station in Moscow.
Initial test imagery has been acquired from the MRC, which is being used to support the analysis and calibration of the camera. The team also continues to commission and calibrate the HRC’s precision pointing platform, which is required before test imagery can be acquired by the HRC.
‘With both cameras functioning as anticipated, we are now focusing on further commissioning and calibration of the cameras, and the pointing platform for the HRC. This will allow us to unveil our first official full colour, Ultra HD video, which is expected in Q2,’ explained UrtheCast’s chief technology officer, Dr George Tyc. ‘This is a tremendous achievement for the engineering teams at UrtheCast and RSC Energia. We’re extremely grateful for the hard work that they’ve provided, especially over the past few months.’
UrtheCast plans to release its first commercial grade video and imagery as part of a dedicated marketing effort.
