Vancouver-based UrtheCast (TSX:UR) is looking to the stars and setting a launch date for new technology it wants installed in the International Space Station.
The B.C. tech company, which is developing the first ultra high-definition video feed of Earth taken from space, announced July 17 it’s developing two more high-resolution devices for International Space Station (ISS).
Another camera and a dual-band synthetic aperture radar, which creates images of objects by collecting radar echoes, are expected to be launched into space by 2016.
Texas-based NanoRocks is handling the launch and installation of the equipment, which is scheduled to begin transmitting data by 2017.
UrtheCast installed two other cameras on the Russian side of the ISS in January but the latest devices will operate on the NASA side of the space station.
“This is precisely the type of project that was envisioned when Congress declared the ISS as a national lab,” Michael Read, NASA manager of the ISS national lab office, said in a statement.
“Being both educational and scientifically focused, these sensors will help augment NASA’s efforts to more fully utilize the International Space Station as a national lab, while enabling more commercial stakeholders to participate.”
UrtheCast CEO Scott Larson said in a statement adding additional sensors to the ISS will reduce some of the technological risks of the project, and provide even more data for scientific research and resource monitoring.
On July 17, the company released its latest imagery from its Theia camera, which showcases Rome, Italy, from outer space. The feed can be found at urthecast.com/firstlight.
Rome, Italy, via UrtheCast:
