/sci/ - Science & Math

https://spacenews.com/earth-observation-evolution-bigger-satellites-promise-bigger-payoff-for-imagery-operators/

> “Everyone’s moving to these bigger satellites because the cost and volume constraints have changed,” said James Mason, Planet senior vice president of space systems. “All of our customers are demanding different types of data, higher quality and lower latency.”

> “Mass is not as important anymore,” said Christian Lenz, chief technology officer for San Francisco-based Capella. “Things like capacity, performance, [and] lifetime are all more important at this stage.”

> To reduce latency, Capella is mounting Mynaric optical communications terminals on Acadia satellites. The terminals, which are compatible with the interoperability standard established by the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency, “provide the promise of having latencies of under 15 minutes sometime in the future,” Lenz said.