SEN.COM, a UK-based start-up, is sending ultra high-definition cameras to the International Space Station (ISS) to capture Earth’s stunning views. The 4K system will be installed on the ISS’s front exterior structure to capture sunrises, sunsets, the northern and southern lights, and record events on Earth. SEN.COM launched a small satellite in 2022 and already streams live videos from it. The company aims to extend its technology to the Moon, with cameras located in lunar orbit, the lunar surface, and on lunar rovers. The cameras will film astronauts as humans return to the Moon.
SEN.COM’s camera payload will be transported to the ISS through the latest US space agency re-supply mission scheduled to launch from Florida with approximately 2.5 tonnes of food, clothing, equipment, and scientific experiments. The cameras will be prepped by the station crew and then placed on the Bartolomeo deck, which is connected to the European Columbus science module, through an airlock. The manoeuvres are scheduled to be performed by the big robotic CanadaArm-2 in May.
The 4K camera system comprises three cameras, with one looking straight ahead at the horizon, the second one pointing straight down, and the third one directed at the forward docking point. The cameras will capture the capacity scene size of approximately 180km by 240km, and the controlling software will adjust its exposure to capture city lights when the station moves into darkness. The plan is to stream 4K video more or less continuously through the European Space Agency’s relay system.
SEN.COM is working with film and TV companies on documentaries and hoping to engender interest from news organisations who might want to reflect events in a different way, especially if those events have global reach. The company believes it can find success by packaging the material in the right way since real-time video has storytelling power and can deliver insights about what’s happening directly to people
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