Since the dawn of agriculture, farmers have relied on the changing of the seasons to determine when to plant and harvest their crops. But with less predictable weather patterns, cloud cover can prevent them from seeing the ground to know where and when to sow seed or apply fertilizer, leading to crop loss and wasted resources. This innovative satellite technology allows farmers to see through cloud cover, helping them plan their planting and harvesting so they get greater yields while using fewer resources. This cutting-edge tech can benefit all farmers by allowing them to farm more sustainably, which helps both our planet and its inhabitants.
How apples can help you look more beautiful
How Satellites Work
Although there are other technologies that can assist farmers in crop management, satellites have several advantages over them. They are relatively low-cost and offer an all-weather view of a large part of Earth’s surface, which is extremely useful for agriculture. Scientists and government agencies send satellite information back to ground stations every day. This data is used for such tasks as weather forecasting, climate research, disaster response, and agricultural monitoring. Technology companies interested in launching their own satellite may employ private launch services or government launch services. These private companies operate commercial rocket systems that launch payloads into space at a cost much lower than what a government would charge. One of these companies is SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, who previously co-founded PayPal and Tesla Motors.
Small Business, Big Tech
Technology is playing an increasingly large role in agriculture. Whether farmers are using satellite imagery for data on soil health or drones for crop surveillance, Aspia Space is working with them to ensure that technology allows them to get more from their crops. For example, satellite technology can help farmers know what type of fertilizer or seed works best on their soil—and where and when it needs to be applied. In other words, technology helps them work smarter, not harder. But Asia doesn’t stop there; its satellites are also used by governments and humanitarian organizations looking for solutions around food security.
Things Are Looking Up
The agricultural sector has seen some major changes over recent years, including newer technologies that allow a higher degree of precision. But farmers still rely on weather forecasts and can be stymied by cloud cover. The lack of clarity means they have a hard time knowing when is a good time to plant seed or apply fertilizer, which hampers their ability to maximize crop yields. Aspire Space’s satellite technology will provide detailed images that farmers can use to precisely manage their crops and better control production costs. That kind of information could transform agriculture and move it closer toward data-driven precision agriculture as farmers find new ways to meet customer demand for better products in increasingly crowded marketplaces.
From the Ground Up
Whether you’re planting crops, building a house, or opening a factory, you need to know what your land can support. But for many farmers in developing countries, uneven terrain makes it difficult or impossible to see what their farmland looks like from above. This is where Aspia Space comes in: Using technologies originally developed for military reconnaissance, its team of engineers has created an aerial imaging tool that lets users take high-resolution pictures of their farms from space — for free. The satellite technology is being targeted at the agricultural sector to help farmers better manage their crops. Cloud too often prevents them from seeing the ground to know where and when to sow seed or apply fertilizer. Aspire Space’s technology can produce images at a much higher resolution and more frequently than current technology.
Choosing a PaaS
Cloud computing has made significant inroads into enterprise application deployments over the past couple of years. Today, many companies run their core applications and business-critical workloads in a cloud environment rather than on-premises. But with so many platforms out there, how do you decide which one is right for your organization? In most cases, it comes down to security and performance—are you willing to trust your data (and possibly some of your intellectual property) with another company? And can that service handle all that you throw at it? Those are big questions with no easy answers; fortunately, there are a number of great platforms out there that offer excellent security along with robust technology capabilities.
