TopSat
TopSat is a UK national imaging satellite, created to demonstrate the utility of low-cost micro-satellite systems for military and civilian applications. TopSat, launched in October 2005, has generated imagery and has now completed all its original programme objectives.
The satellite’s camera provides panchromatic imagery of around 3m resolution and colour images with a resolution of approximately 6m. A summary of TopSat’s image characteristics is contained in the table below.
| Bandwidth | Nadir spatial resolution | Nadir image swath | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panchromatic | 0.5-0.7µm | 2.9 metres | 17km |
| Colour | 0.45-0.5µm (blue) | 5.7 metres | 12km |
| Colour | 0.5-0.6µm (green) | 5.7 metres | 12km |
| Colour | 0.6-0.7µm (red) | 5.7 metres | 12km |
A press release in December 2005 announced receipt of the first images.
Infoterra is responsible for the commercial exploitation of TopSat’s imagery according to the TopSat Data Policy.