B.C. Company to Send HD Cameras Into Space

UrtheCast’s HD camera | BCBusiness
A rendering of UrtheCast’s HD camera that will be launched to the ISS in November 2013

Vancouver-based UrtheCast announced last week that its HD camera technology will go aboard the International Space Station, following the company’s public listing on the TSX

UrtheCast’s two Earth monitoring cameras are scheduled to head to the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 20, 2013, aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The company raised $46 million in a reverse IPO last month, acquiring all shares of Earth Video Camera Inc. in exchange for the issuance of common shares of UrtheCast. The company, led by a senior management team of former McDonald, Dettweiler and Associates executives, went public following the reverse takeover.

Going public helped UrtheCast meet a rapid sequence of goals—from building cameras to developing a ground station network, says Scott Larson, UrtheCast President and CEO.

The developer of what will be the first HD video feed of the planet from space, UrtheCast was named one of Canada’s hottest innovators by the Canadian Innovation Exchange in November. Video data captured by UrtheCast’s cameras will be streamed to ground stations around the world and visible on the company’s website.

Providing high-resolution video imagery of the Earth will allow for the monitoring of the environment, humanitarian relief and agricultural land, according to the company.