satellite operation

Abstract

A method for providing Earth observation data includes acquiring Earth observation echo data with a first satellite in low Earth orbit and determining a time required to downlink predetermined data from the first satellite to a ground station on Earth at a current location of the first satellite. If the required time exceeds a predetermined threshold, the predetermined data may be transmitted to another satellite in orbit above the Earth using space-to-space radio communication. Alternatively, the first satellite may receive data regarding a current location of another satellite in orbit above the Earth, determine a time required to transmit the predetermined data via the other satellite to a ground station at a current location of at least one other satellite, and transmit the predetermined data to another satellite in orbit above the Earth using space-to-space radio communication if the determined time of the other satellite is less than the determined time of the first satellite. In some possible implementations, the echo data may be processed and analyzed on the first satellite to generate an image and determine a portion of interest. The predetermined data may then include a data structure including a location of the portion of interest that may be transmitted utilizing a space-to-space link.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application relates to the processing and distribution of Earth observation satellite data products. [Background technology]

[0002] Many land and sea surveillance applications, such as detection and tracking of ships, land vehicles, deforestation, and mining activities, require up-to-date surveillance information for the purpose of tracking events on Earth. For this purpose, surveillance images are acquired by Earth observation satellites passing over the locations of interest. However, the process of returning Earth observation data to Earth takes time, limiting the currency of the information when it is provided to the end user, which creates problems for some monitoring applications that require up-to-date information.

[0003] The embodiments described below are not limited to those that address any or all of the shortcomings of known methods discussed above. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0005] The present disclosure provides an Earth observation satellite and method for providing Earth observation data that can utilize an inter-space link to transmit observation echo data.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for providing Earth observation data, the method including acquiring Earth observation echo data of a first satellite in low Earth orbit and determining an amount of time required to downlink selected data from the first satellite to a ground station on Earth at a current location of the first satellite.

[0007] If the time required exceeds a predetermined threshold, the predetermined data may be transmitted using space radio communication to another satellite in orbit above the Earth.

[0008] Alternatively, a first satellite may receive data regarding a current position of another satellite in orbit above the Earth, determine a time required to transmit predetermined data to a ground station via the other satellite at the current position of at least one of the other satellites, and if the determined time of the other satellite is shorter than the determined time of the first satellite, transmit the predetermined data to the other satellite in orbit above the Earth using space radio communication.

[0009] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides an Earth observation satellite configured to perform any of the methods described herein. The satellite may include a sensor configured to collect echo data and a wireless transmitter configured to transmit a portion of the echo data to another satellite using an inter-space link.

[0010] In some possible implementations, the echo data may be processed on board the first satellite. For example, the echo data may be processed to generate an image and analyzed to determine a portion of interest. The predetermined data may then include a data structure including a location of the portion of interest that may be transmitted utilizing the inter-space link. Alternatively, the predetermined data may include at least a portion of the acquired echo data.

[0011] Also provided is a method for providing Earth observation data, comprising the steps of acquiring Earth observation echo data with a satellite in orbit above the Earth, processing the echo data at the satellite to generate an image, analyzing the satellite image to determine a portion of interest, and transmitting a data structure including a location of the portion of interest to another satellite using an inter-space link.

[0012] The methods described herein may be performed, for example, by software on a tangible storage medium in machine-readable form. In the form of a computer program including computer program code means, the program is adapted to perform all steps of any of the methods described herein when executed on a computer and the computer program may be embodied on a computer-readable medium. Examples of tangible (or non-transitory) storage media include magnetic disks, thumb drives, memory cards, etc., but do not include propagating signals. The software may be adapted to run on a parallel or serial processor such that the method steps can be performed in any suitable order or simultaneously.

[0013] This application recognizes that firmware and software are separately tradable commodities of value. It is designed to include software that operates or controls on "dumb" or standard hardware to perform a required function. It is also intended to include software that "describes" or defines a hardware configuration, such as HDL (Hardware Description Language) software for designing silicon chips or configuring general purpose programmable chips to perform a desired function.

[0014] The features described below can be combined as required and in any aspect of the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical acquisition and delivery of Earth observation data to Earth. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of near real-time acquisition and delivery of Earth observation data to Earth using an approach similar to that of FIG. 1 . [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of an Earth observation satellite. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary approach for providing Earth observation data. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for providing Earth observation data. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart of another exemplary method for providing Earth observation data. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of hardware for implementing the methods described herein.

[0016] Common numbers are used throughout the drawings to denote like features. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The following describes embodiments of the present invention by way of example. These implementations are not the only possible ways, but represent the best patterns for carrying out the invention currently known to the applicant. The description describes example functions and a sequence of steps for constructing and operating the examples. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be implemented by different examples.

[0018] 1 and 2 show a typical Earth observation satellite 102 in orbit 104 about the Earth 106. In this document, the term "satellite" shall be broadly interpreted to include any class of satellite, such as Earth observation satellites, communications satellites, geostationary satellites, as well as space stations, spacecraft, and aircraft. In the following, an embodiment is described in which a synthetic aperture radar or "SAR" is used to obtain imagery. Thus, the Earth observation satellite 102 of FIG. 1 is configured to image a location 108 and acquire echo data as it passes over the location 108 to deliver imaging data, such as raw echo data, to a ground station 110 on the Earth 106. A computing system at the ground station may then process the imagery data in various ways, such as using the data to generate an image of an area on the Earth from space. Information derived from the raw data, such as images, may be transmitted to an end user. Although one ground station 110 is shown in the figures, in actual implementations, an Earth observation system may include multiple ground stations and multiple satellites. In some implementations, the raw data may be transmitted from the ground station to a cloud computing infrastructure, for example, and further processed in a cloud service.

[0019] Current methods of observing the Earth from satellites are unable to provide an immediate response to detection services. The fastest possible time is achieved when a ground station 110 is available for a "direct downlink" to the satellite 102, i.e., when echo data is collected while over the horizon of the ground station, in other words, when the satellite 102 has line of sight to the ground station 110.

[0020] It typically takes 20-60 minutes to complete a "near real-time" acquisition and processing chain for an emergency Earth Observation data product. One example is ship detection, where satellite radar imagery is acquired to detect ships at sea, and this information is needed immediately to locate the ship in question for interception purposes. For example, downlinking the raw echo data may take 5 minutes, processing into an image at the ground station may take 5 minutes, analyzing the imagery may take 10 minutes, and the various tasks of storing and uploading the resulting data via the ground network to the customer's system may take 15 minutes, for a total of 35 minutes.

[0021] More typically, additional delays are incurred while waiting for the satellite 106 to pass over the first available ground station 110. A typical delay may be 45 minutes or more before the satellite 102 is within direct link range of the ground station 110 and is able to downlink raw data to Earth 106. Combined with approximately 30 minutes of processing time on Earth, a 45 minute delay in the downlink means that by the time the data arrives at the customer it is already 75 minutes old.

[0022] These scenarios are illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. In Figure 1, a satellite 102 has line of sight to a ground station 110 and may transmit raw data regarding its position 108 to the ground station 110.

[0023] As mentioned above, it is unusual for a satellite to pass over a ground station that can provide a downlink immediately after acquiring the echo data. There is a high probability that there will be some delay in reaching a position in the orbit where there is a direct line of sight to the ground station. This scenario is shown in Figure 2, where the satellite needs to travel some distance around the Earth before it has a line of sight to the ground station.

[0024] While it may be economically justified to build a ground station to provide a direct downlink as soon as the data is acquired, this is generally only practical when a fixed location is monitored regularly. Generally, this is not a viable solution and is not suitable when the location changes or imagery of the new location is urgently needed. It may also not be suitable when the location of interest is over sea. Furthermore, satellite operators typically "rent" time from existing ground stations to communicate with the satellite. In other words, satellite operators do not necessarily control the location of the ground stations and are limited in the number of ground stations that can download data from the satellite.

[0025] Among the methods described herein is a method using a space-to-space link to transmit Earth observation data to the ground. Prior to transmitting the data over the space-to-space link, a time required to downlink predetermined data from the satellite to a ground station on Earth may be determined. The predetermined data may include at least a portion of the Earth observation echo data acquired by the satellite, or may include data structures resulting from processing and analysis of the echo data on board the satellite, as described further below.

[0026] The required downlink time includes the time it takes for the satellite to come within line of sight of the ground station, which can be determined from on-board information such as GPS sensor information and the ground station's position.

[0027] The next action may depend on the inter-space link used. For example, if transmitting data via a higher Earth orbit, it may be assumed that it will be faster than a given time and used if the determined time exceeds it. Alternatively, as explained further below, the satellite may know the position of at least one other satellite, e.g. satellites in the same constellation may share position information, in which case the time may be determined for at least one satellite and used if the time is short. Note that the determined time of another satellite may allow multiple space-to-space "hops".

[0028] Traditionally, little to no processing of the raw data is done on satellites. Satellites are primarily designed for reliability and longevity, which has resulted in very robust computing electronics at the expense of performance. Thus, satellites do not have the computing power to process the raw data, and all processing is done at the ground station.

[0029] 3, another approach may be used, which illustrates an example of an Earth observation satellite 300, such as a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite. Some embodiments of the present invention use processing of raw data on the satellite in combination with the use of one or more space-to-space communications links to improve the speed at which information derived from the raw data can be delivered to users.

[0030] The satellite 300 includes a sensor 302 configured to collect echo data, a computing system 304 configured to process the echo data to generate an image and analyze the image to determine the portion of interest, as shown, and a transmitter 306 to transmit a data structure including the location of the portion of interest utilizing an inter-space link. The inter-space link is a communication link between two launched satellites interpreted according to the above definition. The sensor 302 may include one or more radar or optical transceivers for collecting echo data reflected from the Earth, and may be mounted or housed on one or both of two generally planar structures 308 of the satellite 300. The generally planar structures 308 are referred to in the art as "wings", although it is understood that the wings 308 of the satellite 300 do not have the same aerodynamic performance requirements as, for example, an aircraft wing. The computing system 304 includes a processor for processing the echo data and performing image analysis, and a memory for storing instructions for the processor. The transmitter 306 may include a wireless transmitter for transmitting a data structure using a radio signal to another satellite, such as a telecommunications satellite, or to another spacecraft, such as a space station. The computing system 304 and the transmitter 306 may be mounted on or housed in a satellite body 310 from which wings 308 extend. In another example, the transmitter 306 may be attached to or housed within one or more wings 308.

[0031] Thus, instead of transmitting raw data or information derived from image processing directly to a ground station, some embodiments of the satellite may transmit to another satellite that may have line of sight to the ground station, or may downlink the information to a ground station. The other satellite may be in the same or similar orbit, for example in low Earth orbit. Alternatively, the other satellite may be in a higher Earth orbit. Systems are available for communication between satellites, including small satellite terminals for data links via medium earth orbit satellite phone constellations such as Iridium or Inmarsat. The type of hardware used for software defined radios may be used for this purpose.

[0032] The satellite 300 may include various other components. For example, one or more solar panels may be mounted or housed on one or more of the wings 308 and / or the body 310 to provide power to the other components. At least one power storage device, such as a battery, may be mounted or housed on one or more of the wings 308 and / or the body 310 to enable the satellite to operate in low light conditions. At least one transceiver for communicating with a ground station may be mounted or housed on one or more of the wings 308 and / or the body 310, and / or the transmitter 306 may be part of a transceiver configured to communicate with other satellites and ground stations. The satellite 300 may also include systems not further described herein, such as, but not limited to, a thermal control system, an attitude control system to ensure the satellite 300 is pointed in the correct direction, and a propulsion system.

[0033] 4 shows a satellite 300 in low Earth orbit 402. The satellite 300 may be used to acquire images of locations 404 on Earth, process the images on-board, and provide image-derived data to Earth using an inter-space link 406.

[0034] The raw echo data collected by the radar or optical sensor 302 of the satellite 300 is processed on-board the satellite 300 using the computing system 304 of the satellite 300. The computing system 304 may optionally include a central processing unit (CPU) and / or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for processing the raw echo data. The use of an FPGA allows for faster processing than a typical CPU processor. The echo data generates an image of the location 404 by mapping the contours of the Earth and objects on its surface using the timing of the echo signals received by the sensor 302.

[0035] The raw echo data collected by the radar or optical sensor 302 of the satellite 300 is carried onboard by a computing system 304 of the satellite 300 to generate an image of the location 404 based on contours determined using the timing of the received echo signals. The satellite's computing system 304 may include a central processing unit (CPU) and / or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for processing the raw echo data.

[0036] The images may then be analyzed to determine areas of interest. Analysis operations are performed on board the satellite 300 by the computing system 304 of the satellite 300 and may be used to detect various objects or changes occurring on the Earth's surface that are important for surveillance applications.

[0037] The analysis operations may include detecting objects on the Earth's surface using an object detection algorithm, such as a neural network object detection algorithm. This may be useful, for example, in ship detection and / or tracking applications where ships need to be detected and / or identified. If a neural network is used, it may suitably include a classifier for classifying objects into predefined classes. For example, the classifier may be used to classify ships into predefined types of ships. In this case, the neural network may be trained on the ground in a computationally intensive training process, but contextual data may be uplinked to the satellite 300 to augment the data set and / or add additional layers to the neural network. In this case, further training may be performed on the satellite using the uploaded data to include data such as images of the ship and historical routes of the ship. In this and other cases, a threshold confidence level for the detection algorithm may be selected to ensure that while some false positives may be detected, all true objects of interest are likely to be detected. In the case of object detection, the portion of interest of the image may include at least a portion of the detected object.

[0038] Alternatively or additionally, the analysis operation may include using a change detection algorithm to detect changes, such as changes resulting from deforestation or mining activities, or changes, such as object movement. In one example, the change detection algorithm may be configured to detect the change using pixel mathematics. The change may be detected by reference to another image of the same location previously captured, perhaps by the same satellite 300 or a different satellite, and in some examples may be provided to the satellite 300 by uploading from a ground station or transmitted from another satellite. Alternatively or additionally, the change may be detected by reference to data derived from another such image, perhaps captured by the same satellite or a different satellite, and in some examples may be provided by transmission from a ground station or another satellite. In the case of change detection, the portion of interest of the image may include at least a portion of the area on the Earth where the change occurred.

[0039] Detection of objects or changes on the satellite 300 may be facilitated by uploading other information to the satellite 300, such as water mask information to define coastlines and other bodies of water such as rivers and lakes, land use classification information such as agricultural and urban boundaries, state and private boundaries, facility locations, parking lot boundaries, etc. For example, such information may be utilized to provide more context in the case of neural network based object detection.

[0040] Alternatively or additionally, the characteristics, type, or identity of the part of interest may be performed on-board the satellite 300. For example, for object detection, the satellite's computing system 304 may be configured to detect object characteristics such as vessel size, object type such as vessel type, object identity such as a unique identity of a vessel. This functionality may be suitably provided by an object detection algorithm. For change detection, the computing system 304 may be configured to detect change characteristics such as deforestation rate, or change types such as deforestation or mining.

[0041] The satellite's computing system 304 may be configured to assemble a data structure for transmission. The data structure may include any of the location of the portion of interest, the characteristics, type or identity of the portion of interest, and a snippet of an image containing at least a portion of the portion of interest. For example, in the case of object detection, the data structure may include any of the location of the detected object, the characteristics, type or identity of the detected object, and a snippet of an image containing at least a portion of the object of interest. In this case, the snippet may add the immediate surroundings of the detected object. In the case of change detection, the data structure may include any of the location of the detected change area, the characteristics or type of the detected change, and a snippet of an image containing at least a portion of the change area. The location of the portion of interest may be described in coordinates, such as longitude and latitude coordinates. If multiple portions of interest are detected in the image, information about each portion of interest may be included in the data structure.

[0042] It is understood that at least a majority of the image is not included in the data structure, although snippets containing portions of interest may be included in the data structure. As a result, the data structure may be significantly smaller than the image, for example an order of magnitude or more smaller than the image. The reduction in the amount of data is useful for wireless transmission.

[0043] The computing system 304 provides the data structure to a transmitter 306 of the satellite 300 for radar transmission over an inter-space link. The data structure may be transmitted to another low earth orbit satellite, such as another Earth observation satellite, or other suitable satellite, for example, a communications satellite of a telecommunications network in medium Earth orbit. In the example of FIG. 4, the transmitter 306 transmits the data structure using the inter-space link 406 to a communications satellite 408 in medium Earth orbit for transmission to Earth. The communications satellite 408 transmits the data structure via a direct downlink 410 to a ground station 412 on Earth. In another example, the communications channel from the satellite 300 to Earth may include two or more inter-space links.

[0044] Space-to-space communications are useful when the satellite 300 is ready to transmit a data structure, but is not within the direct link horizon of the ground station 404. Conventionally, space-to-space data links are not too slow to support downlinking of image data in a reasonable time frame. However, by reducing the amount of data in some example data structures, the amount of data can be reduced by an order of magnitude or more, making space-to-space transmission possible. For example, the data structure may be three orders of magnitude smaller than an image. If the satellite 300 is not within direct link range of the ground station, space-to-space communications may downlink the reduced size data structure to Earth immediately, or sooner at a rate that allows for acceptable delivery times. For example, if the data structure is three orders of magnitude smaller than an image, a downlink to Earth may be possible using space-to-space communications in approximately 10 seconds. In this case, information contained in the data structure, such as the location and type of detected objects, may be delivered to Earth and end users without delay. In contrast, it may take approximately two hours to downlink an image to Earth using space-to-space communications.

[0045] The task of commanding the satellite 300 to acquire an image of a location on Earth may be performed using an inter-space link, for example using one or more satellites of a telecommunications network. This can be accomplished within a very reasonable time, since very little data is required for the command. The use of inter-space communication both for giving the task to the imaging satellite 300 and for downlinking the data structure may make the complete chain of events independent of the imaging satellite's direct access to a ground station. As a result, the delay between receiving a request for information from an end user and delivering the information in the data structure to the end user is significantly reduced, compared to conventional methods that rely on a direct link between the imaging satellite 300 and a ground station.

[0046] The remaining image data not transmitted in the data structure can be downlinked to Earth using a conventional direct link if the satellite 300 is within range of a ground station direct link. This can be useful in building an image archive for further analysis, for example to provide context for object detection or change detection algorithms.

[0047] The delay between receiving a request for information from an end user and delivering the information in the data structure to the end user can be further reduced by having multiple imaging satellites 300 in orbit, so that at any given time there is not a long wait for an available imaging satellite 300 to pass over the location to be imaged. In this case, a request from an end user may be assigned to an appropriate one of the satellites 300 to image the location with minimal delay. Such a configuration using multiple satellites 300 helps keep the delay consistently low.

[0048] 5, the satellite may perform a method 500 for providing Earth observation data. The method 500 includes steps 502 of acquiring Earth observation echo data and 504 of processing the Earth observation echo data to generate an image. The method 500 further includes steps 506 of analyzing the image to determine a portion of interest and 508 of transmitting a data structure including a location of the portion of interest utilizing an inter-space link. The inter-space link forms part of a communication channel to Earth.

[0049] A satellite may perform a series of operations to determine whether to use an intra-space link to communicate information to a ground station. This may be used for communicating any data to a ground station, and is not limited to the data structures described elsewhere herein. Nonetheless, such operations are particularly useful for transmitting such data structures.

[0050] The sequence of operations is shown in Figure 6. In operation 601, Earth observation data is acquired by a satellite in low Earth orbit. Then, in operation 603, a time T1 is determined, which is the time required to downlink the predetermined data from the satellite to a ground station at a current location. The predetermined data may include a data structure as described elsewhere herein, or may include at least a portion of the acquired echo data. The time determined in operation 603 may depend on the nature and amount of the predetermined data.

[0051] Next, in any sequence of operations, a determination is made at 605 whether the time T1 exceeds a predetermined threshold. If so, then the predetermined data is automatically transmitted to another satellite utilizing space radio communication. This other satellite may be a satellite known to the satellite acquiring the data as having the capability to downlink data in a time shorter than T1. An example of such another satellite may be a satellite in orbit that has line of sight to a larger area of ​​the Earth and is therefore more likely to have line of sight to a ground station.

[0052] The time T1 may be chosen appropriately, for example, to allow another satellite to downlink data to Earth in less time than T1. For a LEO constellation, the threshold is determined based on knowledge of the constellation, so that there is always an alternative route to ground that is faster if the threshold is chosen appropriately.

[0053] If T1 does not exceed the threshold, then in operation 600, the given data is transmitted directly to the ground station, for example, as soon as the satellite that acquired the echo data has line of sight to the ground station.

[0054] In an alternative sequence of operations 605 and 607, the satellite acquiring the echo data receives data regarding the current position of another satellite in orbit above the Earth in operation 611, determines the time T2 required to downlink the given data to the satellite at the current position of the other satellite and transmits the data to the ground station via the other satellite. The downlink may be directly from the other satellite or may be via a third satellite. In other words, there is no limit to the number of inter-space "hops" that may be used to downlink the data to the ground station. In operation 615, it is determined whether T2 is less than T1. If so, the data is transmitted to another satellite using inter-space radio communication. Otherwise, the process proceeds to operation 609. This sequence of operations does not use a threshold time for downloading data to Earth, which may allow for faster downlinking of data.

[0055] Operations 611, 613, and 615 may be repeated for other satellites and / or space link combinations before a decision is made to transmit the given data from the ground station. For example, operations 611, 613, and 615 may be repeated in this manner until the satellite that acquired the Earth observation data has moved to a position that has a line of sight to a ground station configured or capable of receiving the data therefrom.

[0056] Thus, in some implementations, the satellite that acquired the echo data may receive data regarding the current positions of multiple other satellites in low Earth orbit and select a satellite to transmit data to over the space-to-space link. The selection may be based on the current position or may determine the downlink times of multiple satellites and select the fastest one.

[0057] Any of the methods described herein may include the additional step of determining whether the satellite from which the echo data was acquired has line-of-sight to another satellite and / or is configured to communicate with another satellite with which it has line-of-sight.

[0058] 7, the satellite may include hardware 600 for performing the method 500. The hardware 600 includes a communication module 602, an input device 604, such as a receiver, an output device 606, such as a transmitter, a processor 608, and a memory 610. The memory 610 may store code encoding instructions that, when executed by the processor 608, cause the satellite to perform the method 500.

[0059] In the above embodiments, the server may include a single server or a server network. In some examples, the functionality of the server may be provided by a server network distributed in a geographic area, such as a globally distributed server network, and a user may connect to an appropriate one of the server networks based on the user's location.

[0060] For clarity, the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to a single user, it should be understood that in practice the system may be shared by multiple users, and may even be shared by many users simultaneously.

[0061] The above embodiments are fully automatic. In some instances, a user or operator of the system may manually indicate some steps of the method to be performed.

[0062] In the embodiments described in the present invention, the system may be implemented as any form of computing and / or electronic device. Such devices may include one or more processors, which may be microprocessors, controllers, or any other suitable type of processor that processes computer-implementable instructions that control the operation of the device to collect and record routing information. In some examples, for example when using a system-on-chip architecture, the processor may include one or more fixed function blocks (also called accelerators) that implement parts of the method in hardware (rather than software or firmware). Platform software, including an operating system or any other suitable platform software, may be provided in the computing-based device to enable the application software to run on the device.

[0063] Various functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. A computer-readable medium may include, for example, a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may include volatile or non-volatile, removable or non-removable media implemented in any manner or technology for storing information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. A computer-readable storage medium may be any available storage medium accessible by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other storage devices, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer. Optical disks and disks as used herein include optical disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks (BDs). Also, propagated signals are not included within the scope of computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media also includes communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one location to another. A connection may be, for example, a communication medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, it is included in the definition of communication media. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0064] Alternatively or additionally, the functions described herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, but not limited to, possible hardware logic components may include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific standard products (ASSPs), systems on chips (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and the like. Complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and the like may be included.

[0065] Although illustrated as a single system, it should be understood that the computing device may be a distributed system, such that, for example, several devices may communicate over a network connection and jointly perform tasks described as being performed by the computing devices.

[0066] Although illustrated as a local device, it should be appreciated that the computing device may be located remotely and accessed via a network or other communications link (eg, using a communications interface).

[0067] The term "computer" as used herein refers to any device having processing capabilities to enable the execution of instructions. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such processing capabilities may be incorporated into many different devices, and thus the term "computer" includes PCs, servers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and many other devices.

[0068] Those skilled in the art will recognize that storage devices storing program instructions may be distributed across a network. For example, a remote computer may store an example of a process written as software. A local or terminal computer can access the remote computer and download some or all of the software to execute the program. Alternatively, the local computer may download pieces of software as needed, or may execute some software instructions at the local terminal and some at the remote computer (or computer network).Those skilled in the art will also recognize that all or part of the software instructions may be executed by dedicated circuitry such as DSPs, programmable logic arrays, etc., by utilizing conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art.

[0069] It should be understood that the above benefits and advantages may relate to one embodiment or to several embodiments, and the embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the problems mentioned or that have the benefits and advantages mentioned.

[0070] A reference to "an" or "an" item means one or more of those items. The term "comprising" is used herein to mean including identified method steps or elements, but these steps or elements do not include an exclusive list and the method or device may include additional steps or elements.

[0071] As used herein, the terms "component" and "system" are intended to include a computer-readable data store comprised of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a particular function to be performed. Computer-implementable instructions may include routines, functions, etc. It should also be understood that a component or system may be located on a single device or distributed across multiple devices.

[0072] Moreover, as used herein, the word "exemplary" is intended to mean "serving as an example or example of something."

[0073] Further, to the extent the term "comprising" is used in the detailed description or claims, it is intended that the term have the same inclusiveness as the term "comprising," as the term "comprising" is interpreted as a transitional term within the claims.

[0074] The accompanying figures illustrate exemplary methodologies. Although the methodologies are shown and described as a series of operations performed in a particular order, it is understood and should be understood that the methodologies are not limited by the order. For example, some operations may occur in a different order than described herein. Also, some actions may occur simultaneously with other actions. Furthermore, in some cases, not all operations may be required to implement the methodologies described herein.

[0075] Additionally, the operations described herein may include computer-executable instructions that may be implemented by one or more processors and / or stored on one or more computer-readable media. Computer-implementable instructions may include routines, subroutines, programs, threads of execution, etc. Additionally, the results of the operations of these methods may be stored in a computer-readable medium, displayed on a display device, and / or displayed on a similar device.

[0076] Although the ordering of steps of the methods described herein is exemplary, the steps may be performed in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Furthermore, steps may be added or substituted to any method, or single steps may be deleted from any method, without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the above embodiments may be combined with aspects of any other of the described embodiments to form further embodiments without losing the desired effect.

[0077] The above description of the preferred embodiment is given by way of example only, and it should be understood that those skilled in the art may make various modifications. The above includes one or more exemplary embodiments. Of course, for the purposes of describing the above aspects, it is not possible to describe each possible modification and variation of the above device or method, but those skilled in the art will recognize that many further modifications and arrangements of the various aspects are possible. Therefore, the described aspects are intended to encompass all such changes, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method for providing Earth observation data, comprising: acquiring earth observation echo data with a first satellite in low earth orbit, the echo data including radar echo data acquired from a synthetic aperture radar; processing the echo data from the first satellite to generate an image; analyzing the satellite image to determine an area of ​​interest; determining a time required to downlink predetermined data from the first satellite to a ground station on Earth at a current position of the first satellite, the predetermined data including at least a portion of Earth observation echo data acquired by the first satellite, the at least a portion of Earth observation echo data including echo data from the portion of interest; or determining that the predetermined data includes a data structure resulting from processing and analysis of the echo data, the data structure including a location of the portion of interest; and if the required time exceeds a predetermined threshold, transmitting the predetermined data to another satellite in orbit above the Earth using space-to-space radio communication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the other satellite is in medium Earth orbit or above.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the other satellite is in low Earth orbit.

4. 1. A method for providing Earth observation data, comprising: acquiring earth observation echo data from a first satellite in low earth orbit, the echo data including radar echo data, the radar echo data being acquired from a synthetic aperture radar; processing the echo data from the first satellite to generate an image; analyzing the satellite image to determine an area of ​​interest; determining a time required to downlink predetermined data from the first satellite to a ground station on Earth at a current position of the first satellite, the predetermined data including at least a portion of Earth observation echo data acquired by the first satellite, the at least a portion of the Earth observation echo data including echo data from the portion of interest; or determining that the predetermined data includes a data structure resulting from processing and analysis of the echo data, the data structure including a location of the portion of interest; receiving data relating to the current position of at least one other satellite in orbit above the Earth; if the time determined for one of the other satellites is less than the time determined for the first satellite, determining a time required to downlink the predetermined data to the ground station via the at least one other satellite at a current position of the at least one other satellite, and transmitting the predetermined data to the other satellite in orbit above Earth using a space-to-space wireless communication link.

5. 5. The method of claim 4, including receiving data regarding the current positions of a plurality of other satellites in low Earth orbit and selecting one of the plurality of other satellites as a candidate for transmission.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data structure further includes a characteristic, type, or identification of the part of interest and a snippet of the image containing at least a portion of the part of interest.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of interest includes at least a portion of an object, and analyzing the image includes detecting the object using an object detection algorithm.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the data structure includes a property, a type, or an identity of the object.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising classifying the object.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising classifying the object using a neural network.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a watercraft.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of interest includes a region where a change has occurred, and analyzing the image includes detecting the change using a change detection algorithm.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data structure includes a snippet of the image, the snippet including at least a portion of the portion of interest.

14. 10. The method of claim 1, including the step of transmitting further data of or derived from the image using a direct ground station link.

15. A method configured to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 14. An earth observation satellite, a sensor configured to collect echo data; a computing system configured to process the echo data; and and a radio transmitter configured to transmit data to another satellite using an inter-space link.

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