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.