Dove-2 is an Earth observation satellite launched as part of a private, commercial, space-based,

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Eart ...

system, licensed to collect images of the Earth. It is currently undertaking an experimental mission in a 575 km circular orbit at an inclination of 64.9 degrees. The Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

, an agency of the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

, granted a license to Cosmogia Inc. to operate the Dove-2 mission. Cosmogia later changed its name to Planet Labs and started operating

flocks Flocking is the behaviour exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. Computer simulations and mathematical models that have been developed to emulate the flocking behaviours of birds can also generally be applie ...

of Dove satellites commercially. The Dove-2 mission is an internal company technology demonstration experiment to test the capabilities of a low-cost

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

constrained to the 3U

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

form factor to host a small payload. The Dove-2 satellite was launched at 10:00 UTC April 19, 2013 aboard a

Soyuz-2.1a Soyuz-2 ( GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stag ...

rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

References

External links

Planet Labs Inc. (formerly Cosmogia Inc.)
* CubeSats Spacecraft launched in 2013 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commercial imaging satellites of the United States Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets {{US-spacecraft-stub