A Vancouver company has become the first to offer HD colour videos of Earth, filmed from cameras mounted on the International Space Station.
UrtheCast officially released its first three videos Thursday, dazzling detailed aerial views of Barcelona, London, and Boston.
“Our vision is to democratize earth observation imagery, which to us means taking a view of Earth that nobody has really had the opportunity to see before and streaming it out online for as many people as possible,” says UrtheCast CEO Scott Larson. “We want to give a little bit of the view that astronauts have and open it up for the rest of us.”
The videos range in length from 34 to 47 seconds, covering areas of up to 1.92 x 1.08 kms. Boats, buses and cars on the ground are all clearly visible at roughly one metre resolution.
UrtheCast is different from Google Earth, Larson adds, because it will offer real time streaming video from space for free. The images are constantly updating as the space station orbits Earth more than 16 times a day.
“You can see things the way they currently are, and also how they have changed [over time],” he says. “We will see things that no one has ever seen before.”
Paying clients will also be able to order shots of specific sites around the globe. Larson says UrtheCast recently signed its first government client for $85 million over the next several years. He stresses the images are not “spy stuff”, but for monitoring deforestation, farming, and social issues.
The company has also signed agreements with groups like the United Nations, he notes.
“Pictures of Earth from Space are in demand,” says Larson. “The Earth looks great...It’s kind of a celebration, and kind of a big deal!”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson.
London, UK from UrtheCast on Vimeo.
