Gain & Size Considerations of Satellite Subscriber Terminals on Earth in Future Intelligent Satellites

This paper presents an advanced satellite-imaging concept that could have impact on the development of satellite technology in coming years. The proposed intelligent satellite system is a space based architecture for the dynamic and comprehensive on-board integration of Earth observing sensors, data processors and communication systems to enable simultaneous, global measurement and timely analysis of the Earth´s environment for real-time, mobile and common users in the remote sensing, photogrammetry, GIS, and other communities. This is because user´s demands in the GIS, mapping, natural resources, environmental science, Earth monitoring, etc., communities have migrated from basic Imagery to temporal, site specific, update mapping products/image-based information. Data and information revisions will be requested more frequently, that is, in many ways analogous to today´s weather updates. In addition, common consumers will be less concerned with the technical complexities of image processing, requiring imagery providers to use different strategies to directly provide users with value-added images (e.g., orthorectification, feature enhancement, radiometric intensification, etc.) and value-added products (e.g., orthoimage mosaics) in order to meet real-time, mobile needs. The proposed architectures form a seamless integration of diverse components into a smart, adaptable and robust Earth observation satellite system.