A flotilla of British-built heat-sensing satellites is to be launched into Earth's atmosphere to find badly insulated buildings. The seven thermal-imaging probes being constructed in Guildford are intended to show how homes, offices and cities can be made more energy efficient.
The British space company will announce this week that the first of its satellites will be flown on a rocket in the first half of next year.
Some of the probes may be launched from spaceports under construction in Cornwall, Shetland, north Scotland and other parts of the UK.
The aim of the programme is to create a fleet of probes that will be able to carry out a constant, worldwide survey measuring heat from buildings. This will be achieved by using high-definition radiation detectors that will show where buildings are leaking and wasting energy.
Anthony Baker, Satellite Vu's chief executive, said that their satellites are going to be fitted with unique cameras that can measure heat emissions from any building on the planet.
It is only possible to survey the heat in a neighbourhood. Our satellites will be fitted with high-resolution detectors, which will allow them to study individual buildings and show how much heat is escaping from them.
The point is that a lot of people want to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
They face a lot of problems in generating power cleanly and in preventing heat being wasted from badly insulated offices, homes and factories.
We will provide the data that will show companies, governments and local authorities how they can cut their energy bills.
The UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency have given grants to Satellite Vu.
The company expects to make money by selling its data to companies that are looking for ways to cut power bills as the pressure increases on nations to cut their carbon emissions.
The craft that will carry out this monitoring is being built by a company in Guildford. Each one will be able to measure heat output on the ground with an accuracy of 2C.
Mass insulation of England's interwar suburbs is called for by architects.
The data should have a wide range of uses. It should help alleviate the effect of heat islands in cities, which can heat up far more severely than surrounding rural areas because of the prevalence of dense materials.
The data should help monitor river pollution from factories, cut heating bills, assess the activity status of solar panels, and watch for wildfire outbreaks in open land. The company hasn't decided on a name for the satellite programme.
A lot of companies and authorities want to make improvements in the way we use energy and generate heat. By giving them precise data about where heat is being allowed to spill out of buildings into the open, we believe we can help them make a real difference and save energy.
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