Fourteen years ago, in November 1998, I stood on a low mound overlooking the bleak Kazakhstan steppe. It was early morning. The ground was covered in a light dusting of snow and a bitter wind tore across the cracked concrete, flattening the surrounding scrappy clumps of grass.
A stream of garbled Russian crackled from a loudspeaker mounted on an army truck. The speech was overwhelmed by static and the angry muttering of a technician attempting a hasty repair. Neither of us looked particularly happy to be there. At least I was being paid – in Yeltsin’s Russia, the chances were he hadn’t received a salary for several weeks. Nevertheless, we were both about to witness a significant moment in space history. Read more…
An ambitious effort to broadcast real-time streaming video of Earth from space is closer to reality, after a new influx of cash and some new partnerships. By spring 2013, everyone on Earth will be able to watch the planet from the most unique vantage point ever built, the International Space Station.
We first told you about the Canadian startup UrtheCast (pronounced Earth-cast) last year, and the first cameras were supposed to launch in 2012. But the company has been raising money and working on its two high-definition cameras, while cosmonauts are in training to move the cameras from the cargo ferry to the station’s underside. The cameras are due to be finished in the next few months, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, the company, which is based in Calgary, said it plans to go public later this fall. Read more…
This article originally appeared in the BBC's Focus Magazine on Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
By: James Lloyd
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Next year, UrtheCast (pronounced “EarthCast”) will begin to broadcast the first ever live, HD video of the Earth from space – think Google Earth meets YouTube. Here’s how it will work… Read more.
This article originally appeared in the SpaceNews.com website on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
By Debra Werner, SpaceNews.com
UrtheCast, the Canadian firm that plans to offer a live video stream from the international space station, has signed an agreement with the United Nations’ Institute for Training and Research to provide high-resolution imagery to assist the agency’s humanitarian relief work.
Since 2003, the Institute for Training and Research has provided maps and data derived from satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles and photographers on the ground to various UN agencies, member states and nongovernmental organizations, including the Red Cross, through the UN’s Operational Satellite Applications Program (UNOSAT). “Detailed live video from the international space station will enhance our current suite of remote sensing information sources,” UNOSAT senior specialist Einar Bjorgo said by email. “The video camera also can be focused by the international space station’s onboard crew on particular areas, for example, dynamic flood situations or villages where landslides have been reported.” Read more.
This article originally appeared in the Globe and Mail on Monday, July 16th, 2012
By SEAN SILCOFF,Globe and Mail
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Urthecast has contracted the U.K.’s government-owned Rutherford Appleton Laboratories to build two cameras and Richmond, B.C.-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. to build the associated hardware. The equipment is expected to be delivered later this year. Read more.
This article originally appeared in the Sky News on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
Sky News By Christer Holloman
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Space tourism is slowly becoming a reality but still most of us will never see earth from space, until now. SF based UrtheCAST are on schedule to put HD cameras on the International Space Station by the end of 2012 to stream live images. The camera travels 26,000 km per hour and orbits the earth 16 times a day. I met Eric Bieller the Chief Product Developer to talk about how this is different from Google Earth, how they plan to make money and how you get start a space business.
This is probably one of the most disruptive stealth projects that has surfaced over the last few years and combines some feature of Google Earth with the playback and video functionality of Youtube. We caught up with the team and asked them for some questions over how the solution will work and what challenges they did encounter. Read more.
UrtheCast is thrilled to announce its recent win at Digital Alberta’s second annual Digital Alberta Awards. Honoring innovative professionals, the awards ceremony was held at Calgary’s Hotel Arts on June 4, 2012, where UrtheCast was awarded the trophy for ‘Best Digital Startup’. Read more.
When UrtheCast was founded in 2010, it had a vision to provide the world with a view like none other – live video footage of planet Earth. In early 2013, this footage will be streamed from the International Space Station to UrtheCast’s social web platform, for free.
Each year, Digital Alberta celebrates Alberta’s leaders in development, innovation, and creativity in the evolving digital media industry. This annual awards program recognizes community leaders in 16 diverse categories. Read more.
The original idea for UrtheCast was simple: place a couple of webcams on the International Space Station and stream the images over the internet.
That was the plan before UrtheCast’s Russian partner, RSC Energia, offered to install the cameras on a moveable platform attached to the space station’s Zvezda service module. UrtheCast executives then decided to replace one of the still cameras with a video camera Read more.
