First three satellites of the Firefly constellation were successfully launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
- Firefly is Pixxel’s flagship Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) satellite constellation, featuring six of the highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral satellites to date.
About Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) Satellites
- HSI analyses a wide spectrum of light instead of just assigning primary colours (red, green, blue) to each pixel, effectively spectrally fingerprinting the Earth.
- HSI provide more information on what is imaged. For instance, while a typical satellite can identify a forest from space, HSI can distinguish between different types of trees and determine health of each individual tree.
About Satellite Constellation
- It is a network of identical artificial satellites with the same purpose and shared control, designed to work as a system.
- They communicate with global ground stations and, at times, interconnect to complement each other’s functions.
- Starlink, with 2,146 active satellites, is the largest satellite constellation.
- Types: Based on orbital altitude there are three types:
- Geostationary orbit (GEO): At an altitude of 36,000 km, it synchronizes with Earth's rotation.
- Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): At altitude of 5,000 to 20,000 km, traditionally serving navigation purposes.
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO): At altitude of 500 to 1,200 km, primarily support research, telecommunication and Earth Observation needs.