Weekly GEOINT Community News

DigitalGlobe Releases California Wildfire Imagery

To support wildfire relief efforts in California, DigitalGlobe has released satellite imagery of Ventura and surrounding communities via its Open Data Program. This data includes fire perimeters established by first responders and allows users to inspect fire zones and assess damage at particular addresses. The imagery includes JPEGs taken with a Shortwave Infrared Sensor, which cuts through smoke to show where fires are active on the ground. DigitalGlobe has also partnered with Mapbox to update Mapbox’s fire tracking map with the newest available imagery.

SpaceX Completes First Mission With Reusable Rocket

SpaceX launched its first reusable rocket Friday for its 13th NASA supply run to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch was supplemented with a Falcon 9 first stage booster and a reused Dragon cargo capsule from an April 15 mission to the ISS. The rocket arrived at the station Sunday, delivering a 4,800-pound payload supporting onboard research.

Earth-i Chooses Spacemetric for Satellite Image Processing

British satellite firm Earth-i announced it will use Swedish photogrammetry software Spacemetric to process still imagery and video from a new prototype satellite scheduled for launch in January 2018. Spacemetric will geometrically pinpoint each pixel in every image frame and will correct for distortions due to Earth’s terrain or satellite movement. Once operational, the satellite prototype will help bring high-definition color video and agile revisit rates to Earth-i’s growing constellation.

USGS and NASA Select New Landsat Science Team

USGS and NASA revealed their selections for the new Landsat Science Team, which conducts Landsat-based research related to data acquisition, formats, datasets, and more in partnership with the Intelligence Community. Members will spend their five-year terms preparing for and managing the launch of Landsat 9 in 2020 and developing applications for new Landsat data.

Airbus Cybersecurity Releases Predictions for 2018

Airbus’ external cybersecurity business unit released its top tech predictions for 2018 based on this year’s operations trends. Among them are: weak social media security policies will hurt enterprises; attacks on wireless networks will rise; and encryption will continue to be a challenge for local law enforcement. According to Airbus, if companies do not treat data privacy as a necessity cyber threats will dominate in 2018.

Vencore Awarded Multiple Contracts

Vencore announced it was awarded multiple systems engineering and integration contracts for a number of U.S. government customers across the defense and intelligence communities. The contracts are collectively valued at more than $375 million for seven years of work.

Photo Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center