UHD Video Constellation Being Built by Sen
The first satellite in Sen's UHD video constellation has been place in orbit by SpaceX. The satellite, ETV-A1, will stream Ultra High Definition video from space.
“The successful launch of our first satellite represents a key milestone on our journey to democratize space using video."
Sen founder and CEO Charles Black.
The satellite has four video cameras on board designed to image Earth with different spatial resolutions, from continents and oceans to regions and cities. Sen’s cameras are capable of streaming recorded and live Ultra High Definition (UHD) video including 8K video from its highest resolution camera which can see down to around 1.5 meters (≈5 feet) of the ground.
ETV-A1 is the first in Sen’s planned UHD video constellation in Low Earth Orbit.
“The successful launch of our first satellite represents a key milestone on our journey to democratize space using video," said Sen founder and CEO Charles Black. "I would like to thank the amazing engineering team at Sen for all their hard work and exceptional talent. I also wish to thank our satellite builder, NanoAvionics, and everyone at ExoLaunch and SpaceX for launching the satellite.”
Sen first demonstrated UHD video streaming from space in 2019. Its 4K video streaming platform in orbit was hosted aboard a satellite manufactured by S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation Energia (RSC Energia). The platform, which is made up of six video cameras and the Sen Video Unit containing a computer system to operate the video cameras and process the video data, was designed, developed and built by Sen.
The platform has demonstrated successfully its capability of recording six 4K video streams simultaneously in order to provide information about the spacecraft. Sen’s video cameras can stream real-time 4K video from the spacecraft, and two of the cameras are robotically steerable to capture a range of views of the spacecraft and also to film wide angle imagery of Earth.
"This mission validates our core technology which will be deployed in future on both hosted cameras and our own satellites as Sen develops its business of streaming videos from space for the benefit of humanity,” Black said at the time.
(Source: Sen news release. Image provided with 2019 release)