engineering

Urthecast

Urthecast is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Urthecast rather than just read about it. In short: Urthecast was a Canadian company that specialized in satellite imaging, data services and geo-analytics. The company operated two cameras on the International Space Station (ISS) and two satellites in low Earth orbit.

Key takeaways

Urthecast belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Urthecast to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Urthecast from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Urthecast was a Canadian company that specialized in satellite imaging, data services and geo-analytics. The company operated two cameras on the International Space Station (ISS) and two satellites in low Earth orbit. Urthecast also planned to launch two satellite constellations, OptiSAR and UrtheDaily, to provide global coverage and high-resolution imagery of the Earth. However, the company faced financial difficulties and filed for creditor protection in 2020. A new start-up, EarthDaily Analytics, emerged from Urthecast’s insolvency in 2021.

History Urthecast was founded in 2010 by Wade Larson and Scott Larson, with the vision of providing live video streaming of the Earth from space. The company partnered with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to install two cameras on the ISS: a medium-resolution camera (MRC) and a high-resolution camera (HRC). The MRC could capture objects about 6 meters across or larger, while the HRC could capture objects of 1 meter across. The cameras were launched in 2013 and became operational in 2014. In 2015, Urthecast acquired Deimos Imaging, a Spanish-based earth observation company, and its two satellites: Deimos-1 and Deimos-2. Deimos-1 had a resolution of 22 meters per pixel and could cover 650,000 square kilometers per day. Deimos-2 had a resolution of 75 centimeters per pixel and could cover 150,000 square kilometers per day. Urthecast also announced plans to launch a 16-satellite constellation called OptiSAR, which would combine synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical sensors to provide all-weather and day-night imaging capabilities. In 2016, Urthecast announced another satellite constellation project called UrtheDaily, which would consist of eight satellites equipped with multispectral sensors to capture images of the entire Earth’s landmass every day at a resolution of 5 meters per pixel. The company contracted Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) to manufacture the satellites. Urthecast received funding from the Canadian government’s Strategic Aerospace & Defense Initiative (SADI) program for the development of OptiSAR. In 2018, Urthecast acquired Geosys, an agricultural data analytics company, from Land O’Lakes, Inc. Geosys provided crop monitoring and yield forecasting services using satellite imagery and weather data.

Financial troubles and insolvency In September 2020, UrtheCast filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in Canada and sought similar protection in the U.S. under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. The company stated that it had been unable to secure sufficient financing or find a buyer for its assets amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, UrtheCast announced that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with a consortium led by Antarctica Capital Management LLC, a U.S.-based private equity firm. The consortium agreed to acquire UrtheCast's Deimos Imaging business and related assets for $3.2 million USD. The transaction was approved by the Canadian court overseeing UrtheCast’s CCAA proceedings and closed on 26 February 2021. As part of the deal, Antarctica Capital formed a new company called EarthDaily Analytics, which took over UrtheCast's Deimos Imaging business and its UrtheDaily satellite project. EarthDaily Analytics also retained most of UrtheCast's employees and customers. The new company announced that it would focus on providing optical imagery and data products for the agriculture industry and other markets.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Urthecast

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Urthecast claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Urthecast before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Urthecast ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Urthecast

In research: Urthecast appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Urthecast in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Urthecast is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace companies, Aerospace engineering organizations, Companies based in Vancouver, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Urthecast outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Urthecast in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Urthecast means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Urthecast out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Urthecast in simple terms?

Why does Urthecast matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Urthecast?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Urthecast.