RapidEye

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains information regarding a future spaceflight.
Due to the nature of the content, details may change dramatically as the launch date approaches and/or more information becomes available.

RapidEye is a commercial multispectral remote sensing satellite mission being designed and implemented by MDA for RapidEye AG. The RapidEye sensor images five optical bands in the 400-850nm range and provides 5m pixel size at nadir. Rapid delivery and short revisit times are provided through the use of a five-satellite constellation.

It provides products for the following applications:

Agriculture - crop monitoring and mapping, yield prediction, etc.
Cartography - satellite based maps, ortho photos, etc.
Other Markets - natural disaster assessment, 3D-visualization, etc.

The satellites will be placed equally spaced in a single sun-synchronous orbit to ensure consistent imaging conditions and a short revisit time. The RapidEye system can access any area on Earth within a day and cover the entire agricultural areas of North America and Europe within five days.

The RapidEye satellite platforms are under construction by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). ^[1] This makes RapidEye the second multiple-satellite imaging constellation that SSTL has been involved with, after building and launching the Disaster Monitoring Constellation.