A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the WorldView-4 spacecraft lifts off. DigitalGlobe owns WorldView-4 and will provide Australia with the world’s highest resolution satellite imagery under a new 4-year contract. Photo credit: ULA.
True to its word, the Australian government has started ploughing money into its surveillance capabilities with a new $83 million USD ($104 AUD) contract with DigitalGlobe. The agreement will give the Department of Defence (DoD) access to all of DigitalGlobe’s satellite imagery, which spans 16 years, through a Direct Access Program (DAP) contract.
DigitalGlobe currently provides high-resolution imagery to Australia via SecureWatch, a cloud-based portal to access DigitalGlobe’s satellite constellation. Since the announcement of the new satellite imagery budget in June of this year, speculation was rife that either DigitalGlobe or Airbus would provide the service. The four-year contract, beginning in January 2018, will allow the Australian government to access the commercial satellite imaging constellation to support its objectives in defence, border protection, and humanitarian missions.
Read about the Australian government’s pledge to fund satellite technology here.
As a DAP partner, the DoD will be able to directly task and download imagery in real-time to its ground station from all five DigitalGlobe satellites—including WorldView-4, launched in November 2016, and WorldView-3, launched in August 2014, which are the world’s two highest-resolution commercial satellites.
These satellites were only launched after the US lifted its ban in 2014 which prohibited image resolution greater than 50 cm to appear in online mapping and navigation websites like Google. At 31 cm resolution, the satellites gave the government concerns about security and privacy. In addition to their high resolution of visible light, the satellites also provide super spectral images of visible-to near-infrared and shortwave infrared light.
Ground system support will be provided by MDA, which includes tasking, reception and precision processing of imagery from the satellite constellation. VIASAT will provide the ground antenna systems that will enable direct tasking and downlink capabilities.
Active bushfire outside of Adelaide, SA. Visible imagery on the left clearly shows the extent of the smoke while the SWIR image on the right sees through the smoke and enables responders to accurately “see” the wildfire. Image source: DigitalGlobe.
In the Australian government’s June announcement, they also alluded to the possibility of allowing commercial access to the imagery. Such high-resolution images would have applications in a number of industries critical to Australia’s economy, including:
– Mapping
– Land Classifications
– Disaster Preparedness/Response
– Feature Extraction/Change Detection
– Soil/Vegetative Analysis
– Geology: Oil & Gas, Mining
– Environmental Monitoring
– Bathymetry/Coastal Applications
Australians desperately need high-resolution satellite imagery in order to progress the country’s primary industries. If the government does provide civilian access, the data will no doubt be taken up with zeal.
