Yes, you read the headline correctly, and the results are out of this world. NanoAvionics mounted a GoPro Hero 7 to an improvised selfie stick and attached it to their MP42 microsatellite to record the footage.
Launched from a SpaceX Falcon on April 9th of this year, the microsatellite orbited at 550 km above the Coral Sea. The 4K footage shows the Great Barrier Reef, the only living structure visible from space.
Although this is not the only 4K footage from an orbiting satellite, it is the only one from a consumer-grade camera, as the typical space-grade cameras are either costly, don't have enough resolution, or need months to develop for their particular task. The Team at NanoAvionics stripped the GoPro back to its bare bones, rehoused it in a custom housing, coded software to enable it to communicate with the satellite, and attached it to a custom selfie stick to capture the imagery. The camera was also used to test and verify satellite operations and deployment of antennas visually and for ongoing fault detection.
Vytenis J. Buzas, co-founder and CEO of NanoAvionics, said: "Millions watch rocket launches but barely see satellites moving in orbit or deployable structures in operation. This is going to change through live or recorded footage.”
Remember to watch it at the highest resolution for the best experience.
Love this. I assume the footage comes directly to the Sat and is sent to ground?
It's great to watch isn't it Jim. I assume yes, as they mentioned in one of their press releases that there was a huge data dump the first time it connected to the ground.