Massive Growth for Earth Observation Satellite Industry

An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or developed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar intended for non-military purposes such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography and others. The most common type are earth imaging satellites, which take satellite imagery analogously to aerial photography; Some EO satellites can perform remote sensing without generating images, such as B. in GNSS radio occultation.

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Some of the key players of Earth Observation Satellite Industry:

Airbus S.A.S., Boeing Company, JSC Academician M.F. Reshetnev, Lockheed Martin Corporation, MDA Corporation, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, OHB System AG, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Space Systems/Loral (SSL), Thales Group

The first appearance of satellite remote sensing can be dated to the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 sent back radio signals that scientists used to study the ionosphere. NASA launched America's first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. Information returned by its radiation detector led to the discovery of Earth's Van Allen radiation belts. The TIROS-1 spacecraft, launched on April 1, 1960 as part of NASA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) program, returned the first televised images of weather patterns recorded from space.

In 2008, more than 150 Earth observation satellites were in orbit, recording data with both passive and active sensors, collecting more than 10 terabits of data every day. By 2021, that total had grown to over 950, with the largest number of satellites operated by US-based company Planet Labs.