According to a Euroconsult report, Prospects for the Small Satellite Market, more than 3,600 SmallSats are expected to be launched over the next 10 years. The total market value of these satellites is anticipated to be $22 billion (manufacture and launch), a 76-percent increase over that of 2006-2015.
Although Alaska contains vast mineral deposits, its size and remoteness have prohibited study and extraction of these resources. To remedy this, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began the Alaska Hyperspectral Project to assess the applicability of hyperspectral surveying to rapidly acquire data about the distributions of surficial materials, including different types of bedrock and ground cover.
Until July 18, 2016, the European Commission is taking applications from individuals and teams from startups, SMEs, industrial companies, research institutes and universities for its Copernicus Accelerator, which hopes to foster development of commercial space applications and products.
In South America's Amazon basin, El Niño conditions in 2015 and early 2016 reduced rainfall during the wet season, leaving the region drier at the start of the 2016 dry season than any year since 2002.
On June 22, 2016, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched 20 satellites from its PSLV C-34 rocket.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) set up the EO4HumEn+ Project to better provide satellite data for humanitarian aid organizations worldwide.
Focusing on The Netherlands and Denmark, scientists have been using radar images from the European Space Agency Sentinel-1A satellite to determine where ground is stable or how much it may be rising or sinking.
On June 13, 2016, Airbus Defence and Space formally introduced its One Atlas, One Tasking initiatives to help make satellite data access and procurement easier and more efficient for users.
A recent analysis of data from the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite IBUKI (GOSAT) shows that the global atmospheric monthly mean CO2 concentration observed vertically through the whole atmosphere exceeded 400 ppm in December 2015 for the first time since GOSAT was launched in 2009.
Asteroid-mining company Planetary Resources secured $21.1 million in Series A funding that will be used to deploy and operate Ceres, an Earth-observation business that features a commercial infrared and hyperspectral sensor platform to better understand and manage natural resources.
