A Cambridge University spin-out is developing a unfolding, heat-detecting telescope that could capture high resolution thermal images of Earth — at an affordable price. Currently, some large, expensive satellites in low-earth orbit can capture high-resolution images infrequently, while small, low-cost satellites capture frequent but low-resolution images. The startup, SuperSharp, wants to occupy the space in the middle. SuperSharp credits these capabilities to its unfolding “self-alignment technology” which allows it to fit big telescopes in small satellites. Unfolding telescopes are nothing new — just look at James Webb for inspiration — but they’re generally very expensive and notoriously tricky to…
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