Venezuela to use Chinese technology in RS satellite:
Venezuela signed manufacturing contract with China for the development of its remote sensing (RS) satellite. The satellite will be launched in October 2012. This remote sensing satellite will be used for monitoring of natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, floods and heavy rains. The life of satellite will be five to six years.

Taiwan releases its first aerial photography drone
A local company has unveiled Taiwan’s first indigenous unmanned vehicle for aerial photography, hoping to break into a market that so far has been monopolized by imported products. The AI Rider, a system based on a six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle weighing about 1,450 grams, is highly competitive because of its price and after-sales service, including training that is more easily available to domestic customers, said Clark Lin, vice president of Gang Yu Corp.
The remote-controlled aerial photography vehicle is said to be entirely developed in Taiwan and made with domestic components. It can carry a payload, such as a video camera, of up to 400 grams, and can climb to an altitude of 550 meters.

Israel, Russia to boost cooperation in space: Israel and Russia have agreed to increase cooperation on space research and exploration. According to Zvi Kaplan, Director, Israel Space Agency, a project has been proposed which includes remote sensing of Earth from space, planetary studies and space medicine. Kaplan said that the two nations may also join forces on astrophysical research and satellite navigation.

India terminates S-band contract
As allegations of wrongful allocation of S-band frequencies for radio waves to a private company is mounting pressure on the Government of India, the government decided to terminate the controversial contract with Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia. It also claimed that it had not incurred any financial losses because of the contract. But the Department of Space conceded it had not fully informed the Cabinet that G-SAT6 and G-SAT6A satellites it intended to launch were meant primarily for use by Devas Multimedia.

NRSC inducts state of the art Airborne Large Format Digital Camera into service
National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, India has inducted state of the art Airborne Large Format Digital Camera (LFDC) into the country and successfully carried out the first operational task during December, 2010 over 10 towns in Chhattisgarh state for the Department of Land Records, Government of Chhattisgarh. NRSC utilized it Super King Air B -200 aircraft fitted with Computer Controlled Navigation System (CCNS), Gyro stabilized mount and Kinematic GPS system (KGPS) for the survey.

ISRO to set up ground station to relay RS data DG’s satellite imagery for Chinese navigation companies China, Pakistan ink deal on remote sensing GeoEye to buy SPADAC for USD 46million PCI Geomatics to deliver GXL satellite processing system

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

SPOTMaps is a resounding success
SPOTMaps are mosaics made from SPOT 5 satellite images where features as small as 2.5 metres can be resolved, equivalent to a mapscale of 1:10 000. Coverages are seamless and uniform over the territory of a country or …

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

New Survey Aircraft
RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems and Diamond Aircraft Industries introduced their next generation survey aircraft. RIEGL airborne laser scanner LMS-Q680i fully integrated into the “Universal Nose” of the Diamond DA42 Multi Purpose Platform, an efficient overall system for surveying missions is …

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

WorldView-3 development
DigitalGlobe has contracted Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation to build its next imaging satellite, WorldView-3. ITT Corporation has been contracted to build the imaging system, which will be capable of capturing 8-band multispectral high-resolution imagery. The WorldView-3 satellite scheduled for launch …

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

DigitalGlobe: High-resolution imagery for handheld GPS, releases Ortho Product Series
DigitalGlobe is to provide high-resolution imagery for DeLorme’s Earthmate series, including the PN-30, PN-40 and PN-60 models. Hikers, climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts will be able to update their GPS device with accurate …