IMAGING

senseFly’s global service network

senseFly’s global service network, Drone Connector, now features over 700 professional drone operators, connecting these operators with organisations that require their help to produce geo-referenced imagery and data products. Created just six months ago, it spans over 90 countries right around the globe. Operators provide services across fields as diverse as land surveying, agriculture, GIS, mining and more. The service is free of charge to both parties — the end client and the drone operator they choose to use. www.DroneConnector.com

TopoDrone-4Scight

The TopoDrone-4Scight is an easy-touse multi-rotor accurate mapping drone, which will complement the capabilities of the TopoDrone-100 fixed-wing mapping drone. It easily collects photogrammetric mapping data of unprecedented accuracy (20mm horizontal and better than 25mm vertical) for rapid integration into a wide range of industries including Surveying, Urban Mapping, Civil Engineering, Mining, Agriculture, Bridge and Dam Wall Mapping, Post Disaster Mapping and other industries. www.dronemetrex.com

New optical RS satellites out of Thales Alenia Space and CNES partnership

Thales Alenia Space and French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) are jointly conducting a feasibility study on developing a high-resolution, optical remote sensing satellite system. The new system will be a successor to the Pleiades satellites in the next decade. Pleiades comprises two optical Earthimaging satellites that provide images for defence purposes, as well as civilian purposes with a repeat cycle of 26 days. Beginning in the second half of 2016, the partners will identify an optimal design for the new system, and select appropriate technologies to be applied.

Under a co-contractorship with Airbus Defence & Space, Thales will oversee design selection for the satellites, as well as the payloads and associated systems. www.aerospace-technology.com

China launches Gaofen-9 remote sensing satellite

China conducted its second launch in a 37-hour time span by blasting off a Long March 2D rocket with the Gaofen-9 Earth observation satellite. The lift-off took place at 12:42 a.m. EDT (04:42 GMT) on Sept. 14, from the Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite. The Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported that the Gaofen-9 spacecraft is a remote sensing satellite, capable of providing photographs with a resolution of less than 1 meter (3.3 ft.). It will be used in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief.

“Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Gaofen-9 can also serve key national strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and national defense,” Xinhua added. www.spaceflightinsider.com