With the signing of an Implementation Agreement at the ILA Berlin Air Show, Teledyne Technologies (NYSE:TDY; Thousand Oaks, CA) subsidiary Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE; Huntsville, AL) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) formalized their commercial space imaging partnership to use the International Space Station (ISS) for Earth observation.
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Under the agreement, DLR will build the DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS), a hyperspectral instrument that Teledyne will integrate onto its ISS-based imaging platform, the Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES). The MUSES platform will host up to three other Earth-observing instruments that Teledyne will use for commercial applications in areas such as mapping and monitoring of forests, maritime domain awareness, oil and gas exploration, and natural disaster response.
"The signing of this agreement places Teledyne, TBE, and DLR at the forefront of the commercial use of the International Space Station," said Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president and CEO of Teledyne. "We look forward to collaborating with DLR and applying our combined expertise to maximize the uniqueness of the MUSES platform and the DESIS instrument."
The DESIS instrument will be capable of imaging the Earth from the visible through the near infrared. DLR will use the precise spectral data for scientific research in atmospheric physics and Earth sciences. In addition, DLR plans to study the influence of the space environment on remote sensing instruments once the DESIS instrument is returned to Earth at the end of its mission.
"MUSES is a further step toward using the ISS for Earth observation. At the same time, it is a milestone in the international cooperation between DLR and an American industrial partner, Teledyne Brown," said professor Johann-Dietrich Wörner, CEO & President DLR German Aerospace Center and Chairman of the Executive Board.
The instruments mounted on MUSES should enable scientists and engineers to further hyperspectral remote sensing technologies for future satellites and contribute to the scientific and commercial utilization of the Space Station.
Teledyne and DLR expect DESIS to be operational on MUSES in 2016. MUSES is currently being developed by Teledyne under a cooperative agreement with NASA.
Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems.
SOURCE: Teledyne; http://www.teledyne.com/news/tdy_05202014.asp