ESA has helped coastal authorities to track up to 70% more ships and pick up nearly three times more ship positions via satellite than was possible before.

Large cargo vessels and passenger ships are required to carry Automatic Identification System equipment. It transmits the course and speed as well as identification and position information to other vessels and shore stations.

Originally developed to prevent collisions, it now also tracks ships to help prevent pollution, aid in the movement of dangerous goods, and promote routine surveillance.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is using the information to manage the national coast and waters for safety, emergency and transport planning.

Advanced receivers, developed by Kongsberg Seatex in Norway with support from ESA, were launched aboard two NorSat satellites last year.

In their first four months of operation, the receivers significantly improved the detection of identification signals.

Satellites increase the visibility range of these messages from about 74 km at sea level to 2500 km from low orbit, meaning that many more ships can be seen at any one time.

In areas with heavy maritime traffic the number of messages sent by ships can be so high that they jam the satellite receiver. The solution is a new type of message that is more easily picked up by satellites and suffers less interference from other messages.

Carsten Tobehn, leading ESA's involvement, commented: "The advanced receiver was developed using the latest commercial off-the-shelf components. The complex hardware permits more sophisticated software processing, bringing significant improvements in picking up the messages."

The two microsatellites hosting the payloads are owned by the Norwegian Space Centre and are being operated by Statsat.

Ivar Spydevold, CEO at Statsat, added: "The total number of messages from the NorSat receivers typically reach 2.5 million per day. This is nearly three times more than the previous receivers on AISSat-1 and 2, which together achieved about 900 000 per day."

Tweet

Earth-i launches prototype of world's first full-colour, full-motion video satellite constellation
London, UK (SPX) Jan 17, 2018
British 'New Space' pioneer Earth-i has confirmed that the pre-production prototype satellite of its upcoming satellite constellation was successfully launched late last week. The new commercial constellation - which the company announced is called Vivid-i - will be the first of its kind to provide full-colour video; and the first European-owned constellation able to provide both video and ... read more

Related Links
Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only