UK-DMC 3

UK-DMC 3 [SSTL]

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has signed in June 2011 a £110m contract with satellite imaging provider DMC International Imaging (DMCii) to provide three SSTL-300S1 satellites, a new smallsat design which provides unparalleled 1 metre high resolution imagery with high speed downlink and 45 degrees off-pointing

The three satellites will form a new constellation, DMC3, with enormous imaging potential made possible by recent innovations in satellite design. Until now, the physical demands of high resolution imaging from space have required a large satellite but, by re-engineering its heritage imaging payloads and adapting the existing SSTL-300 satellite design used on NigeriaSat-2, SSTL has introduced a highly capable sub-metre resolution small satellite for a fraction of the cost of a conventional Earth observation mission.

By combining the coverage from three satellites, the DMC3 constellation will be able to revisit a given area daily, which is crucial for change detection, disaster monitoring and response planning, and essential for acquiring cloud-free imagery. Like its SSTL-300 counterpart, the new 350 kg satellite also features advanced avionics and optical systems that make it possible to perform several different types of imaging such as mapping terrain, strip imaging and mosaic imaging for wide areas.

The satellites will be financed by the chinese 21AT (Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Company Ltd), for which it means it can have ready access to Earth imagery without the worry of having to launch and operate satellites in orbit.

The Chinese company will take 100% of the capacity of the three spacecraft over an initial contract period of seven years. Day-to-day use of the data will be handled by 21AT subsidiary, BLMIT.