IMAGING

FARO acquires MWFTechnology GmbH

FARO has announced the acquisition of MWF-Technology GmbH. MWF’s technology enables large, complex 3D CAD data to be transferred to a tablet device and then used for mobile visualization and comparison to real world conditions. This enables real time, actionable manufacturing insight for inprocess inspection, assembly, guidance and positioning. www.faro.com/india

Iran urges Russia to start building remote sensing satellite

The Iraniana minister for Communication and Information Technology, Mahmoud Vaezi, urged Russia to start work on constructing the remote sensing satellite both countries agreed upon earlier this year. The remote sensing satellite that Iran and Russia agreed to build will likely be the National Remote Sensing Satellite (NRSS) that the Iran Space Agency announced, along with the National Communications Satellite (NCS), this past summer. A number of companies from China, France, Russia, and South Korea have expressed interest in building Iran’s NCS, while it would appear that Tehran has opted for a Russianbuilt NRSS. http://spacewatchme.com

China’s overseas remote sensing satellite station starts operation

China’s first satellite station overseas was put into trial operation.The China Remote Sensing Satellite North Polar Ground Station is above the Arctic circle, half an hour’s drive from Kiruna, a major mining town in Sweden. An inauguration was held in the Esrange Space Center, where the station is located.China has ground stations in Miyun in Beijing; Sanya in Hainan province; Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region; and Kunming in Yunnan province. The four ground stations receive satellite signals covering 70 percent of the Asian continent.

Domestic stations can receive a signal from each satellite fi ve times a day when it passes overhead, while the new station can receive signals up to 12 times a day. In addition, the new station can acquire satellite data in any part of the world within two hours. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn

SpaceX to launch Ocean- Surveying Satellite

Despite its recent anomaly, the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket, Elon Musk’s SpaceX still landed a deal with NASA to launch an innovative Ocean-Surveying satellite. The project is under NASA’s Earth science satellite program that is expected to launch within the next fi ve years. SpaceX will launch the Surface Water and Ocean Topography spacecraft or SWOT. SWOT is designed to scan the Earth’s ocean and will perform the fi rst global survey of the planet’s surface water. http://www.natureworldnews.com

Japanese satellite launches to study earth’s radiation belts

A Japanese spacecraft designed to help scientists better understand the radiation environment of near-Earth space has made it to orbit on Dec 20. The Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace satellite, or ERG, lifted off atop an Epsilon rocket from Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan.

If all goes according to plan, ERG will set up shop in a highly elliptical orbit, getting as close to Earth as 215 miles (350 kilometers) and as far away as 18,640 miles (30,000 km). This path will take the 780-lb. (355 kilograms) satellite through the Van Allen radiation belts, where the planet’s magnetic fi eld has trapped huge numbers of fast-moving electrons and other particles.

These particles can damage the computer systems aboard satellites and pose a radiation danger to astronauts, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) offi cials said. http://www.space.com/

China launches satellite to monitor global carbon emissions

China has launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite to understand climate change, hours after it lifted nearly a week-long red alert for the worst smog that engulfed about 40 cities in the country. The 620-kg satellite TanSat was put into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China’s Gobi Desert. This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring.

China is the third country after Japan and the US to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite. http://indianexpress.com

Bluesky Geospatial aerial photos update Irish tourist maps

EastWest Mapping has purchased detailed aerial photography and height data from Bluesky Geospatial to update and enhance its recreational maps. The data, of Counties Wicklow and Dublin, will also be used to update EastWest Mapping’s current 1:30,000 and 1:25,000 scale topographic maps, providing more up to date ground cover information and more detailed height measurements. www.bluesky-world.com