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RapidEye AG was a German geospatial information provider focused on assisting in management decision-making through services based on their own Earth-observation imagery. The company operated a five-
satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global pass (spaceflight), coverage, such that at any time everywhere on E ...
producing 5-meter resolution imagery that was designed and implemented by MacDonald Dettwiler (now MDA) of Richmond, Canada. Today, RapidEye refers to the constellation of 5 Earth-observation satellites owned by
Planet Labs Planet Labs PBC (formerly Planet Labs, Inc. and Cosmogia, Inc.) is a publicly traded American Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint tren ...
. The RapidEye constellation was retired by Planet Labs in 2020.


History

1996: The RapidEye business concept was designed by Kayser-Threde GmbH, based on a call for ideas from the DLR (German Aerospace Agency), on how to commercialize
remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...
in Germany. 1998: RapidEye was established as an independent company in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
with seed financing from a few private investors and Vereinigte Hagelversicherung, a German agricultural insurance provider. 2004: In 2004, funding was secured for the RapidEye satellite constellation and
ground segment A ground segment consists of all the ground-based elements of a spaceflight, space system used by operators and support personnel, as opposed to the Satellite space segment, space segment and user segment. The ground segment enables management of ...
with the help of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, the State of Brandenburg (Germany), a banking consortium consisting of
Commerzbank The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...
, EDC (
Export Development Canada Export Development Canada (EDC; ) is Canada's export credit agency and a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada. Its mandate is to support and develop trade between Canada and other countries, and help Canada's competitiveness ...
) and KfW Banking Group. Through a contract with the CCC (
Canadian Commercial Corporation The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC; ) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation mandated to support the growth of international trade by helping Canadian exporters gain access to foreign government procurement markets and by helping governme ...
) MDA was awarded the contract as the prime contractor to build RapidEye's satellite system. Originally located in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, the company relocated 60 km southwest of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
to
Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...
in 2004. 2008: RapidEye earned ISO 9001:2000 certification in April from TÜV Nord. On 29 August 2008, a Dnepr rocket (a refurbished
ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
), was successfully launched from
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in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
, carrying RapidEye's constellation of five Earth-observation satellites designed and implemented by MacDonald Dettwiler (now MDA) of Richmond, Canada. 2009: After the satellites completed their MPAR phase (consisting of testing and calibration) they became commercially operational in February 2009. 2011: RapidEye files for bankruptcy protection on 30 May. 2011: Blackbridge Ltd. of
Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
, Canada acquired RapidEye AG on 29 August. 2012: On 18 December 2012 the company announced that it has successfully relocated the company headquarters to Berlin, Germany. 2013: On 6 November 2013 RapidEye officially changed its name to BlackBridge. 2014: Blackbridge Ltd. announced a new constellation called RapidEye+. The constellation was never developed. 2015:
Planet Labs Planet Labs PBC (formerly Planet Labs, Inc. and Cosmogia, Inc.) is a publicly traded American Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint tren ...
acquired RapidEye. 2020: In April 2020, Planet Labs retired the RapidEye constellation.


Satellites

The constellation consisted of the following satellites: RapidEye 1 (codename Tachys, COSPAR 2008-040C), RapidEye 2 (codename Mati, COSPAR 2008-040A), RapidEye 3 (codename Choma, COSPAR 2008-040D), RapidEye 4 (codename Choros, COSPAR 2008-040E), and RapidEye 5 (codename Trochia, COSPAR 2008-040B). All five satellites were launched simultaneously on a Dnepr rocket on 28 August 2008. All of the satellites share a common orbit; they are separated in orbit by 19-minute intervals. Five identical satellites are built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) of Guildford, subcontracted by MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA). Each satellite was based on an evolution of the flight-proven SSTL-100 bus, measured less than one cubic meter, and weighed 150 kg (bus + payload). Each of RapidEye's five satellites contained identical sensors, were equally calibrated, and traveled on the same orbital plane (at an altitude of 630 km). Together, the five satellites were capable of collecting over 4 million km2 of 5 m resolution, 5-band color imagery every day. The Jena-Optronik multi-spectral imager, the Jena Spaceborne Scanner JSS 56, was a pushbroom sensor carried on each satellite. Each sensor was capable of collecting image data in five distinct bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: blue (440–510 nm), green (520–590 nm), red (630–690 nm), red-edge (690–730 nm) and near-infrared (760–880 nm). The nominal resolution on the ground was 6.5 meters, corresponding to NIIRS 2. RapidEye's satellites were the first commercial satellites to include the red-edge band, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. Studies show that this band can assist in monitoring vegetation health, improve species separation, and help in measuring protein and nitrogen content in biomass.


Technical specifications

; Overview * Number of satellites: 5 * Spacecraft lifetime: 7 years * Orbit altitude: 630 km in Sun-synchronous orbit * Global revisit time: Daily (off-nadir) / 5.5 days (at nadir) * Inclination: 97.8° (solar-synchron) * Equator crossing time: 11:00 am local time (approximately) * Ground sampling distance (nadir): 6,5 m * Pixel size (orthorectified): 5 m * Swath width: 77 km * On-board data storage: Up to 1500 km of image data per orbit * Image capture capacity: 5 million km2 per day ; Sensor performance specifications: : 440–510 nm (blue) : 520–590 nm (green) : 630–685 nm (red) : 690–730 nm (red edge) : 760–850 nm (near IR)


Applications

Imagery from the RapidEye constellation provided geospatial information to the following industries: Agriculture – The RapidEye constellation was capable of field based, regional or global scale agricultural monitoring on a frequent revisit cycle. The information derived from the imagery could assist farmers in precision farming operations, agricultural insurers in damage assessment and risk management, or governments in
food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...
and environmental compliance monitoring. Forestry – Satellite-based information is increasingly being used by governments and commercial operators to assess forest status, evaluate management strategies, measure the environmental and economical sustainability of forest operations, and monitor
illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...
and
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
. Security and emergency – Fast turnaround of imagery showing current ground conditions following a natural or man-made disaster is essential for crisis management authorities in assessing the situation and better coordinating rescue teams. Environment – Satellite imagery can provide valuable information to governmental agencies or industries that monitor the environmental impact of human activities. Spatial solutions – RapidEye satellite imagery was used as background imagery for a variety of purposes including mapping, navigation, flight simulation, gaming and as an integral component in geospecific 3D modeling. Energy and infrastructure – The RapidEye constellation was used to monitor pipeline and transmission corridors and identify problems on the ground such as vegetation encroachment, nearby buildings, development of roads, and leaks. It provided land cover and land use classification data to telecommunication firms to assist in planning their antenna network.


References

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External links


Planet Labs' Blog Announcement on Acquisition of RapidEye and BlackBridge geospatial holdings

Planet Labs' Planet Imagery product page

Description of RapidEye from the Earth Observation Portal

EyeFind - Online Archive Discovery Tool
Space technology Spacecraft launched by Dnepr rockets Spacecraft launched in 2008 Remote sensing companies