It’s not unusual for large companies such as Canon to diversify their business, in fact, last year Canon itself decided it wanted to get into the micro-satellite game, specifically ones armed with Canon’s own photography gear. Those plans have now come to fruition, with the company preparing for a test launch in March.
As Nikkei reports, the satellite is quite the technological marvel — not only is the device small and lightweight at 65kg and 85x50x50cm, it’s equipped with a telescope with hardware similar to that of Canon’s 5D DSLR.
The article goes on to mention that the satellite should be able to take images down to the metre.
Probably the best part, at least from a production perspective, is the cost — less than one billion yen ($12.6 million) per unit, which is apparently a bargain.
The launch is pretty much the only way Canon can check the unit out in the wild, with the plan being to keep it in orbit for 24 months and test the crap out of it.
If all goes well, Canon will look to sell the technology, with Nikkei mentioning a 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) sales target by 2030.