Earth Observation & Science

Surrey's High-Performance Earth Observation Capability

 We design and build space systems from beginning to end and can offer a flexible mix of products and services to suit your mission requirements. 

We offer highresolution systems for high-performance 7+ year missions combining 1 meter class imaging with high agility and accurate geolocation. 



Multi-Satellite Constellations

►Two or more coordinated satelllites provide better revisit times than single satellite systems.

►Multiple satellites operating as a constellation can deliver near-real-time imagery. 

►Comprehensive capability can be achieved by combining satellites with different sensors. 

►Constellations increase operational utility and reduce operational risk. 




SSTL 300 S1

Agile, sub-1 meter imaging system

The SSTL 300 S1 is the latest in the family of highly capable SSTL 300 platforms, providing sub-meter imagery with all the existing mission performance of the platform and retaining its heritage.

Ideal for a wide range of commercial, civil, and security applications, the agile SSTL 300 S1 Earth imaging system offers 0.75 m GSD imagery with high-speed downlink and 45 degree fast slew off-pointing.

 

   


SSTL 300 S1 specification  Applications
Mission and System   
► Surveillance
► Security
► Multi-angle measurements
► National and urban mapping
► Agricultural monitoring
► Precision farming
► Orthographic mapping 
 
 
 
 Download SSTL 300 S1 datasheet
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference Orbit 500 km, SSO, 10.30am LTAN
Design Lifetime 7 years
Space Segment 
Mass 350 kg
GSD PAN: 0.75 m   M/S: 3 m
Swath 17 km
SNR All bands > 100:1
MTF at Nyquist 10%
Digitization 10 bits
Compression JPEG-LS configurable
Data Products Radiometrically and geometrically corrected images 
Stereo
Wide area
Off-Pointing Up to 45 degrees
Flexibility Fast slew
Safety & Security Encryption of all command and telemetry
Payload data encryption



SSTL 300

Agile, very high-resolution imaging system

The SSTL 300 is an evolution of Surrey's heritage platform design, used in DMC+4 and TopSat—missions which have achieved over 10 years of in-orbit heritage.

Ideal for security applications, the agile SSTL 300 Earth imaging system offers 1 meter class multi-spectral imaging with high-speed downlink and 45 degree fast slew off-pointing.

 

   

SSTL 300 specification  Applications
Mission and System   
► Surveillance
► Security
► Multi-angle measurements
► National and urban mapping
► Agricultural monitoring
► Precision farming
► Orthographic mapping 
 
 
 
 Download SSTL 300 datasheet
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coverage revisit 2 days worldwide
Design Lifetime 7 years
Space Segment 
GSD PAN: 1 m   M/S: 2 m
Wide area multispectral at 300 km swath
Swath 300 km
Data Products Radiometrically and geometrically corrected images 
Stereo
Wide area
Off-Pointing Up to 45 degrees
Flexibility Fast slew 45 degree off-track pointing, real-time downlink or store and forward
Safety & Security Encryption of all command and telemetry
Payload data encryption
Image throughput Greater than 400 images per day
Safety & Security Encryption of all command and telemetry
Payload data encryption



NovaSAR-S Synthetic Aperture Radar

Affordable, high-performance, space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems

NovaSAR-S combines our heritage SSTL-300 series avionics suite with a new structure and an innovative payload, developed in collaboration with EADS Astrium, that can be adapted to different frequency bands.  

NovaSAR-S delivers all weather medium-resolution Earth observation data night and day at a price similar to traditional optical missions, and significantly lower than any other SAR platform currently on the market, by leveraging highly efficient S-band solid state technology. The platform is sized for a range of low-cost launch options. 

   

NovaSAR-S specification  Applications
Imaging frequency band  S-band (3.1-3.3 GHz)  
► Flood monitoring
► Agricultural crop assessment
► Forest monitoring
► Land use mapping
► Disaster management
► Maritime applications (e.g. ship detection and oil spill monitoring)
 
 
 
 
 Download NovaSAR-S datasheet
 
 
 
 
 
 
Design Lifetime 7 years
Mass <400 kg
Lead time (KO to FRR) 24 months
Antenna Microstrip patch phased array (3 m x 1 m)
Imaging polarizations Single, dual or tri-polar
(HH, HV, VH, VV)
Optimum orbit 580 km
(SSO or low inclination Equatorial orbit)
Payload duty cycle At least 2 minutes per orbit
(single image >800km long)
Typical duty cycle >1 million km² per day (mode dependent)



Earthmapper

"Always on" imaging system

Earthmapper is a global imaging system providing full coverage of the Earth's land area in 5 days. Flown as a constellation of spacecraft, Earthmapper can image the entire global land mass every day.  

Earthmapper has a large volume of data storage and power generation capacity with high downlink availability. The spacecraft builds on our heritage design offering advanced capability at low risk.

Ideal for rapid revisit and high coverage applications, Earthmapper offers greater opportunities to capture cloud free images.

   

Earthmapper specification  Applications
Mission and System   
► Mapping
► Agricultural monitoring
► Flood monitoring
► Water quality
► Disaster management
► National and urban mapping

 
 
 
 Download Earthmapper datasheet
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference orbit 686 km, SSO, 10.30am LTAN
Spectral bands Red, Green, Near Infrared
Design Lifetime 5 years
Satellite
Mass 100 kg
GSD 22 m
Swath 600 km
SNR All bands > 100:1
Compression ratio 2:5:1 lossless (variable)
Digitization 8 - 14 bits
Data storage 144 Gbytes
Downlink 80 - 160 Mbits/s depending on ground station
Data Products Radiometrically and geometrically corrected images 
Stereo
Wide area
Image throughput 61 million km² per day




SSTL 100 v3.0

Enhanced true color imaging

A new imaging system, based on the next generation SSTL 100 platform, with more spectral bands and a wide imaging swath, giving much improved imagery in both quality and quantity for a variety of applications.

The addition of SWIR and blue spectral bands provides true color imaging with increased information density, broadening the range of applications.

 

   

SSTL 100 v3.0 specification  Applications
Mission and System   
► Mapping
► Agricultural monitoring
► Flood monitoring
► Water quality
► Disaster management
► National and urban mapping
►Geological mapping
►Vegetation mapping
►High-accuracy land cover assessments

 
 
 
Download SSTL 100 v3.0  datasheet
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference orbit 703 km, SSO, 10.30am LTAN
Spectral bands SWIR 1550-1750 nm
Blue 450-515 nm
Green 525-605 nm
Red 630-690 nm
NIR 774-900 nm
Design Lifetime 5 years
Satellite
Mass 100 kg
GSD 10 - 15 m VSNIR
20 - 30 m SWIR
Swath 440 km
SNR All bands > 100:1
Data Products Radiometrically and geometrically calibrated images

 


High Resolution Imagers from SSTL

 

SSTL VHRI 250—Very High-Resolution Imager


    Always at the forefront of development, the SSTL VHRI 250 is a compact, very high-resolution and low-power pushbroom imager. 

The VHRI 250 provides high-resolution imagery in 5 wavebands, using five linear detector arrays separated in the along-track direction in the common focal plane of a telescope.

Applications
►Rapid monitoring
►Forest inventory
►Disaster monitoring
►Environmental management
►Infrastructure mapping
►Urban growth monitoring
►Crop subsidy verification
►Pipeline monitoring
►Change detection
►Military applications: surveillance, target identification

Download SSTL VHRI 250 datasheet
 


CHRIS hyperspectral imager

    The SSTL CHRIS imager is a highly versatile hyperspectral system with more than 9 years inflight heritage, offering in-orbit programmable selection of spectral bands location, bandwidth, and ground sampling distance. In orbit since 2001 and provides the highest spatial resolution of any hyperspectral system, attracting a substantial international user community.

Applications
►Rapid monitoring
►Precision farming
►Regional yeild forecasting
►Forest inventory
►Disaster monitoring
►Environmental management
►Vegetation classification
►Air quality assessments
►Water quality
►Seabed classification
►Military applications: surveillance, target identification


Download SSTL CHRIS datasheet
 


Download Comparative Resolutions datasheet