Page 131 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.
P. 131

a fraction of the cost of comparable alternatives.
                                                               The company launched the world’s first high-resolution
                As the task of data processing                 satellite designed to measure GHGs in 2016 and
                grows larger and larger, space-                is using this patented technology to provide GHG
                                                               emissions monitoring data and services globally.
                based research is helping the                  GHGSat seeks to become the global reference for
                make the tools for accomplishing               remote sensing of GHG, air quality gas, and other trace
                                                               gas emissions from any source in the world. GHGSat’s
                that task smaller and smaller.                 first demonstration satellite “Claire” uses a Xiphos
                                                               Q7 processor card to run its complex hyperspectral
                                                               payload and manage the immense amounts of data
                                                               produced every day.
                                                               In addition, Xiphos spun off other successful
               a technology called programmable logic to perform   commercial ventures, including XipLink, a technology
               complex processing tasks at a fraction of the power   company that provides software and hardware to
               and weight of conventional computers.          B4H 3rd Edition
                                                               speed up wireless and satellite data communications,
               Q-cards have been spaceflight-proven and currently   including Internet service for remote areas and
               process experiment data onboard the space station.   several countries.
               The networked processors also provide high-
               performance, fault-tolerant sensor processing for
               other spacecraft. Xiphos hardware and software
               are flying on several satellites and have powered
               Automatic Identification System (AIS) payloads in
               low Earth orbit for nearly ten years, allowing ships
               to be tracked world-wide.                       Q-Card Processors
                                                               Cast a Wide
               A spinoff company, GHGSat (www.ghgsat.com/),
               developed nanosatellite monitoring of greenhouse gas   Net to Collect
               (GHG) emissions and air quality for various industries,   Emissions Data
                                                                                            Economic
                                                                 Scientific
               including oil and gas, with better accuracy and at    Xiphos Technologies (10 employees, $4M est.
                                                                                             Valuation
                                                                 Valuation
                                                               annual revenue) has used ISS for development
                                                               and demonstration of its Q-Card processors
                                                               since 2004. From 2000-2016, they received
                                                                 SCIENTIFIC
                                                                                            ECONOMIC
                                                               $666,000 in funding from CSA for the
                                                                 VALUATION
                                                                                            VALUATION
                                                               development and commercialization of Q-cards.
                                                               Two companies have been spun-off from Xiphos
                                                               Technologies. XipLink (employs roughly 25,
                                                               $4M est. annual revenue) specializes in
                                                               optimization of data transmission over Wide
                                                               Area Network (WAN) and satellite links. GHGSat
                                                               (employs 40) received $2.3M in public funding
                                                               from Sustainable Development Technology
                                                               Canada. The GHGSat-D satellite, funded in
                                                               part by Imperial Oil, Shell, Canadian Natural
                                                               Resources Limited, and Suncor Energy,
                                                               Human           Earth Observation         Innovative             Global            Economic
                                                               launched in 2016. This satellite provides
                  The Q7 processor card, the latest in a product   Health         and Disaster           Technology           Education         Development
                                                               information on greenhouse emissions at targeted
                  line that first flew on the ISS in 2003 and currently            Response                                                       of Space
                  used for a wide range of applications including   locations for its stakeholders. As of June 2018,
                  satellites, ISS experiments, and rover avionics.  emissions data had been collected for over
                  Image credit: Xiphos Technologies (http://xiphos.  3,000 sites.
                  com/products/q7-processor/)






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