Tokyo-based startup ArkEdge Space claims it has snapped what is “probably” the highest quality images of Earth taken by a small CubeSat. The photos were taken 410 kilometers above the Earth’s surface by the company’s CubeSat called ONGLAISAT, co-developed by Taiwan’s space agency TASA.
It has precision attitude control, a TASA-developed Korsch off-axis optical system, a CMOS TDI (Time Delay and Integration) image sensor, and image compression hardware that all fits inside its 6U form factor, which is about the size of a desktop computer or suitcase.
ArkEdge Space shared black and white images zoomed into areas as close as one square kilometer, showing buildings and roads with some details near Seattle and from the Patagonia region of Argentina. The company claims it captured the “world’s highest ground resolutions” in the CubeSat category, ranging from 2.5 to 3 meters. Reuters reports its mission is expected to end in March before its optical tech is applied to future missions, quoting ArkEdge CEO Takayoshi Fukuyo saying, “The pictures are as clear as aerial photography (despite) being taken by a satellite of this size.”
The ONGLAISAT mission objectives were to demonstrate the optical system in orbit, test a University of Tokyo co-developed altitude control system, and validate the TDI and process images, which all succeeded. The satellite was delivered to the ISS in November and then they were deployed from the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on December 10th.
