The HyperScout 2 instrument. Photo: Cosine

Cosine reported on Monday that HyperScout 2, a miniaturized Earth Observation (EO) instrument, delivered an image processed in space using Artificial Intelligence (AI). This was the first time an image was processed in space using AI. The news was revealed by Josef Aschbacher, director of the Earth Observation program of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The first HyperScout 2 instrument, carrying the Ф-sat-1 artificial intelligence experiment, was launched in September from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou. The HyperScout 2 instrument is on board one of the two nanosatellites of the FSSCat mission that monitors sea ice and soil moisture in support of the Copernicus Land and Marine Environment Services, and was made possible by ESA’s InCubed program.

‘’Data that is acquired by the HyperScout 2 instrument can be combined with data from the HyperScout 1 instrument, which has been in orbit for almost 3 years on the GOMX-4B satellite. In addition, a version of the AI algorithms developed for HyperScout 2 can be uploaded to the GPU, the graphic processing unit on HyperScout 1. This presents a unique opportunity for partners to work with cosine to develop applications using distributed AI on both HyperScout 1 and HyperScout 2,’’ explained Marco Esposito, business unit manager for remote sensing at Cosine.