and from out there we see how illuminated the earth is at night looks lovely but like pollution is a huge problem. earth obit has become a crowded superhighway they re currently around five thousand satellites circling other planets and less than half of them are still operational. not surprisingly most were launched by the united states. china is in second place having overtaken russia. now a whole new generation of satellites is on the move in small sats. tom. the thirty nine year old lives in berlin and has an offbeat profession. i didn t i always wanted to do something out of the ordinary.
you ve got to have a visual you ve got to tell yourself that s my goal. nine years ago ziggurat and two student friends founded berlin space technologies they re ending high their products are meant to go into orbit. the company makes miniature satellites packed with cameras and sensors for observing the earth from space. a daring idea. yet within a few years the startup was celebrating its first major success. in twenty fifteen berlin space technologies first satellite was launched in india. the company earned three million euros with the kent ridge one satellite contract a singapore university projects to monitor the earth s surface. but there were some hair raising minutes shortly after lift off. to
are satellite cost around five million euros you could build fifty of them for the cost of a normal large satellite. demand for small cheap satellites is growing rapidly silicon valley s big data companies have long dreamed of around the clock aerial surveillance of the surface but conventional satellites are stationed so far above the earth s surface that their image resolution is generally not very high. satellites like those made by berlin space technologies are designed for a much lower orbits and offer resolution of under one meter per pixel. a network string of these small devices could monitor the earth s surface twenty four hours a day and with prices so low launching a swarm of them has become an affordable option. the berlin satellites could help contribute to a system like that but what would building it mean for us would it allow constant blanket monitoring of everyone on the planet. so i believe.
concentrate us up to the month amidst all the excitement someone in singapore put the plug on the wrong antenna that meant that for the first couple of hours after launch we couldn t hear the satellite. but all the identified the problem and replug the antenna everybody in the team heaved a huge sigh of relief but it was. the indian triumph brought say god and his team instant recognition it made them full fledged members of the young space tech community that s currently shaking up the sectors establishment. conventional satellites can be the size of a camper van they can take years to build and cost billions brylin space technologies is approaching the business from a different angle. the company makes small satellites built from tried and trusted mass produced components like camera lenses from a standard camera the berlin company modifies them to their own. requirements there
antenna that meant that for the first couple of hours after launch we couldn t hear the satellite that s on the but we identified the problem then replug the antenna everybody in the team heaved a huge sigh of relief but it was. the indian triumph brought say god and his team instant recognition it made them full fledged members of the young space tech community that s currently shaking up the sectors establishment. conventional satellites can be the size of a camper van they can take years to build and cost billions brylin space technologies is approaching the business from a different angle. the company makes small satellites built from tried and trusted mass produced components like camera lenses from a standard camera the berlin company modifies them to their own requirements their satellite cost around five million euros you could build fifty of them. for the