InCubed launches highlight ESA’s support for innovation

InCubed, the ESA Earth observation programme for ‘Investing in Industrial Innovation’ managed by ɸ-lab, focuses on developing innovative and commercially viable products and services that generate or exploit the value of Earth observation imagery and datasets.

The launch took place on 14 January on a SpaceX Falcon 9, Transporter 12, which placed multiple small and nano satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits.
With the launch site approximately 200 km to the North-West of the wildfires that have caused huge damage to northern areas of Los Angeles in the past week, it’s apt that one of the InCubed satellites offers improved detection for wildfires.

According to Giuseppe Borghi, Head of ESA ɸ-lab, the missions reflect ESA’s effort to support the commercialisation of space. Giuseppe said: “The three satellites are the perfect example of the positive and efficient cooperation between the InCubed programme and industry. All three satellites bring innovative services and products to the Earth observation market in the thermal-infrared and in-orbit processing domains, enabling new services for institutional and private customers and supporting crucial applications in wildfire detection, farming, asset monitoring and more.”

The trio of InCubed satellites placed in orbit are:

• AIX, or AI-express, which offers smart in-orbit data processing, enabling customers to test technologies including AI and blockchain in space.
• Forest-3, a nanosatellite that carries thermal-infrared imagers in low Earth orbit to produce data to detect wildfires.
• Hive, the High-precision Versatile Ecosphere microsatellite, which is part of a constellation that uses thermal-infrared instruments to gather data on land surface temperature

AIX

AIX was developed by Planetek Italia as prime contractor, with support from ESA. It offers hardware, software and services that can be used by customers to build and test AI applications. It works as a ‘satellite as-a-service’, offering on-demand, in-orbit resources such as data and actionable information to customers, enabling users to configure their own acquisition and processing workflows on AIX.

Forest-3

Timely detection and real-time monitoring of wildfires is essential to minimise carbon dioxide emissions and both environmental and urban damage, yet there is least coverage from thermal-infrared satellite data during the peak hours when many wildfires ignite, which is often in the afternoon local time. Forest-3 is a constellation of nanosatellites developed by prime contractor OroraTech, with support from ESA. OroraTech, based in Germany, provides services based on thermal satellite intelligence to customers ranging from insurance companies to governments. The mission can detect signs of wildfire during afternoon hours, complementing data from other missions. Forest-3 features advanced multispectral thermal-infrared camera and upgraded technical hardware for long-term orbital thermal imaging.

Hive

Hive was developed by constellr as prime contractor, with support from ESA. Hive’s data can be used in several contexts, including in agriculture to monitor crop health, in infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities in transport networks during extreme weather, as well as by urban planners to identify heat islands and develop sustainable cities.