NASA’s Hyperion, launched in 2000 on the EO-1 satellite, collected 220 spectral bands from 400 to 2500 nm at 30 m resolution. A hyperspectral data cube stacks hundreds of narrow wavelength bands for every ground pixel, creating a two-dimensional spatial image plus a spectral dimension. Hyperspectral imaging records hundreds of narrow bands (often 10 nm…
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As of mid-2025, Starlink is available in over 110 countries and territories. In the United States, Starlink began with limited trials in August 2020 and the public beta “Better Than Nothing Beta” in November 2020, and now has nationwide commercial coverage including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with over 2.5 million subscribers as…
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a population of over 100 million, but only about 27% were using the internet in early 2024, leaving roughly 75 million offline. <li Internet users rose from 1.4 million in 2013 to 28.9 million in 2023, with mobile internet subscribers jumping about 40% over three years. <li As…
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The first space images were captured in 1946 from a sub-orbital U.S. V-2 rocket at about 105 km altitude. The first actual satellite photograph of Earth was taken on August 14, 1959 by the U.S. Explorer 6 satellite. In 1960, TIROS-1 transmitted the first television image of Earth from orbit, a milestone for weather observation.…
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About 75% of the planet is obscured by cloud cover or darkness at any moment, making optical imaging inaccessible. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites actively illuminate the ground with microwave radar and synthesize a large aperture by moving the antenna to produce high-resolution images. SAR can operate day or night and in all weather, providing…
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Iridium operates about 66 LEO satellites at roughly 780 km, offering truly global coverage including the poles with a one-way latency around 0.1–0.2 seconds. Inmarsat uses 3–4 GEO satellites at about 35,786 km, delivering near-global coverage (roughly ±70° latitude) with about 0.5 second latency, and IsatPhone 2 offers up to 8 hours of talk and…
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Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite-based broadband internet service, and by 2025 the constellation has launched over 7,500 satellites with about 6,750 active in orbit. The satellites orbit in low Earth orbit at roughly 550 km altitude, delivering typical download speeds of 50–200+ Mbps and latency around 20–40 ms. SpaceX began launching Starlink in 2019, and by…
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As of early 2025, 41.1 million Colombians were internet users, representing about 77% of the population. By 2025 Colombia had 78.3 million cellular mobile connections in service, roughly 147% of the population. The urban–rural gap remains wide: 63.9% of households had internet in 2023, 28.8% of the rural population were online, and fewer than 13%…
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Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite. Explorer 1 became the United States’ first satellite in 1958. As of 2025, there are roughly 11,000+ active satellites orbiting Earth, with tens of thousands of pieces of inactive satellites and debris. Geostationary satellites orbit about 35,786 km (22,236…
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Bangladesh bans satellite phone use; possession can lead to arrest and imprisonment. North Korea prohibits all unauthorized communication devices, foreigners must surrender phones and privacy is not guaranteed, with detention possible. India restricts satellite phones to government‑approved Inmarsat devices, requiring a license (No Objection Certificate) from the Department of Telecommunications before bringing one in. China…
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