A novel British satellite is set to go into orbit later on Monday, designed to map the heat signature of buildings.
The idea is to highlight those dwellings that are wasting energy and could benefit from better insulation.
The relatively small spacecraft is called, appropriately, HotSat-1; and will be operated by the London-based start-up Satellite Vu.
Its infrared sensor has been developed with funds from the UK and European space agencies.
HotSat-1 is due to launch on a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 14:19 PDT (22:19 BST).
Flying at an altitude of 500 km (311 miles), it will have the resolution to see individual roof tops and walls.
The UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in Europe, with the vast majority of dwellings built pre-1970.
If many of these properties can be retrofitted, it would not only save on householders’ fuel costs but help the country as a whole achieve its ambition of becoming climate-neutral by 2050.
“There is grant money there to improve insulation, but for councils and utilities there is a challenge in knowing where best to apply it,” said Satellite Vu CEO Anthony Baker. “With city-wide data, we’ll be able to show you the worst 20% of buildings very quickly. And after the upgrades are done, we can check to make sure that it’s done well,” he told BBC News.
The company plans to fly eight satellites as a constellation of “thermometers in the sky”.(BBC)