Asian Surveying & Mapping
Breaking News
Astranis clinches $115 million Taiwan deal despite satellite setback
TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis has signed a $115 million...
UAE and Egypt Strengthen Space Collaboration with New MoU
In a milestone development for Arab space collaboration, the...
Seoul launches 4th spy satellite to boost North Korea surveillance
South Korea’s military now operates an increasingly integrated cluster...
Indonesia seeks space defense cooperation with Japan’s military
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Defense of Indonesia...
China Launches 3 Astronauts To Its Space Station
The spacecraft Shenzhou-20 and the crew lifted off atop...
Former Isro chairman K Kasturirangan dies in Bengaluru at 84
Dr. Kasturirangan led the Isro, the Space Commission, and...
South Korea is converting an abandoned coal mine into a moon exploration testing ground
South Korea is transforming abandoned coal mines into testing...
ISRO to Launch Chandrayaan-5 With Japan, Plans Space Station
Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research...
Russia and China are threatening SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation, new report finds
SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation is facing threats from Russia...
China and Pakistan agree to fly 1st foreign astronaut to Chinese space station
For the first time, the Chinese space program will train...

Japan looks to offer companies free access to troves of satellite images starting in fiscal-year 2018, aiming to help with tasks such as inspecting infrastructure remotely and forecasting crop harvests.

The move will be announced in a report on usage of the data from an expert panel including members of the nation’s economic and science ministries, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and information technology businesses and university research bodies.

The images were captured by the Daichi Earth-observation satellite, which is designed to help the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan—part of the land ministry—make maps and track disasters.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and a number of bodies including government ministries will offer companies free, pre-analyzed images of Earth.

JAXA is in possession of a large volume of satellite imagery. A single image often costs private enterprises several thousand yen, or tens of dollars, to use. Businesses largely shy away from doing so, as the amount of data they need can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the analysis requires specialized software or expert knowledge. AIST will develop a method for using artificial intelligence to analyze the voluminous data, letting businesses that sign up obtain the material preprocessed from a dedicated website.

Click here for more information.