Satellite Imagery Provides No Real Help for MH17 (because of Photoshopping?)

I happened on this news story last Friday as I was in research mode at work: MH17 update. It looked interesting, but was also suspicious when I considered the timing of the image’s release corresponding to Putin getting a finger in the chest from the Australian Prime Minister. However, me being at work meant I really […]

China Sends Up Another ‘Practice’ Satellite

On Sept 28, China, unsurprisingly, launched another satellite in their weird passive/aggressive way. At least it seems passive/aggressive with China advertising it’s a practice satellite but then keeps its mission secret. On the other hand, the US does the same thing with its military and intelligence satellites as well. The newest Chinese satellite is called the […]

The Indian Mechanical Martian

The above image is a great reminder of the playful part of conducting serious missions. The latest mission to Mars in this case just arrived Tuesday and was placed into Mars’ orbit. The country responsible for the mission? India. 11 months ago, in November 2013, the Indians launched the Mangalyaan, or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) […]

Satellites Track the Re-floating of a Cruise Ship

Yes, the European Union types are using satellites to monitor the re-floating of the Costa Concordia cruise ship. This Airbus Defence & Space post notes that the satellites are involved as part of the Copernicus Emergency Management System (CEMS). They are: TerraSAR-X and Pleiades satellites. TerraSAR-X is a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite that is very accurate […]

Imagery Unchained (Finally!)

Back in September 2013 I wrote an opinion about why the US government’s laws regarding imagery resolution were very onerous. The rules just didn’t make sense in a world of cheap picture drones. That opinion was based on a story about DigitalGlobe attempting to get imagery restrictions relaxed so they could compete better in the satellite […]