• V-Nova VC-6 running on Unibap SpaceCloud®, hosted on D-Orbit ION mission demonstrates accelerated data transfer from space
• VC-6 utilizes modern hardware architectures efficiently to reduce the processing cost of high-resolution image encoding
• VC-6 offers commercial grade Hyper Spectral and Sparse Data compression
London, UK – 09 June 2021 – V-Nova, a leading provider of video compression solutions today announced that their SMPTE VC-6 ST 2117 data coding standard has teamed up with D-Orbit, experts in the field of in-orbit transportation, in partnership with intelligent automation specialists Unibap, to demonstrate next generation hyper-spectral imaging from Polar orbit. VC-6 high-performance AI-powered software library will be integrated into Unibap’s SpaceCloud® computing platform onboard a satellite scheduled for launch in Q2 2021.
Unibap is supported by the European Space Agency and is partnered with telecommunications software developer ENEA and launch partner D-Orbit. Together with V-Nova, they will demonstrate compression methods and algorithms and evaluate alongside Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) standards for emerging data-driven commercial services from space.
Time is critical to transmit images back to earth since the satellite is small, operates in a low orbit and is only visible to the earth station for a very short period. VC-6 optimizes the use of contended downlinks by progressively downloading high quality (even lossless) lower resolutions, allowing early access of images to the user, then providing higher resolutions with no redundant data until the full resolution is available. Alternatively, if a Region of Interest (RoI) of the image is required, only the high resolution of the RoI is downloaded. All these actions can be automated by computer vision on the ground, working in tandem with computer vision algorithms.
Guido Meardi, CEO and Co-founder, V-Nova said, “This extremely important and exciting project highlights the diversity of high-tech industries which V-Nova is able to help innovate. The fact that VC-6 is able to prioritize transmission of sections of an image in high-resolution is a big advantage since it means the platform need only invest resources into the precise parts of the image that are required at any time. The majority of uses of the imagery from these missions is for scientific use requiring lossless encoding. Being able to compress with low complexity and accelerate the download will allow space systems to become more agile. V-Nova is proud to work with D-Orbit and Unibap towards the development of more efficient satellite imagery systems.”
Dr. Fredrik Bruhn, Chief evangelist, and board member, Unibap, said, “We are very pleased to be the first to demonstrate VC-6 on SpaceCloud in orbit. We will upload additional SpaceCloud applications and experiments throughout the mission lifetime to open up the business potential of in-space data processing.”
Simon Reid, D-Orbit UK COO said, ”D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier provides unique opportunties to demonstrate new technologies – in this case working with V-Nova and Unibap to evaluate performance of VC-6 compression in a real on-orbit environment. Cloud/AI enabled image processing is an important element in the range of On-Orbit services that D-Orbit will offer to customers”.
V-Nova’s VC-6 technology will be deployed into Unibap’s SpaceCloud solution and integrated into D-Orbit’s ION SCV Dauntless David spacecraft which is scheduled for launch in June 2021.
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About D-Orbit
D-Orbit is a market leader in the space logistics and transportation services industry with a track record of space-proven technologies and successful missions.
Founded in 2011, before the dawn of the New Space market, D-Orbit is the first company addressing the logistics needs of the space market. ION Satellite Carrier, for example, is a space vehicle that can transport satellites in orbit and release them individually into distinct orbital slots, reducing the time from launch to operations by up to 85% and the launch costs of an entire satellite constellation by up to 40%. ION can also accommodate multiple third-party payloads like innovative technologies developed by startups, experiments from research entities, and instruments from traditional space companies requiring a test in orbit.
D-Orbit is a space infrastructure pioneer with offices in Italy, Portugal, UK, and the US; its commitment to pursuing business models that are profitable, friendly for the environment, and socially beneficial, led to D-Orbit becoming the first certified B-Corp space company in the world.
About Unibap
Unibap is a high-tech company that aims to automate and streamline industries on earth as well as in space. With smart solutions based on AI and robotics, we want to increase quality and productivity for our customers while eliminating dangerous tasks that today are performed manually. Unibap strives to have a positive impact on both society and the environment. The company’s Quality Management System is certified according to SS-EN ISO 9001:2015. The company is listed at Nasdaq First North Growth Market.
About V-Nova
V-Nova, a London based IP and software company, is dedicated to improving data compression by building a vast portfolio of innovative technologies based on the game-changing use of AI and parallel processing for data, video, imaging, point cloud compression, with applications across several verticals.
This is achieved through deep-science R&D (300+ international patents) and the development of products that test, prove and continuously enhance the technology portfolio.
V-Nova LCEVC is the industry’s first highly optimized library for encoding and decoding enhanced video streams with MPEG-5 Part 2, Low-Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC). V-Nova VC-6 is a high-performance AI-powered software library for SMPTE VC-6 (ST-2117) which is used for professional imaging applications.
V-Nova has developed multiple award-winning software products to kickstart the ecosystems for its technologies and allow their immediate deployment, addressing use cases in TV, media, entertainment, social networks, eCommerce, ad-tech, security, aerospace, defence, automotive and gaming.
V-Nova’s business model is to monetize its technologies through software licensing, IP royalties and product sales.
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