If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how can we describe the highest-resolution camera system ever launched to the ISS? Voyager Space and Madison Square Garden’s (MSG) Sphere Studios are about to find out.
Launched this week aboard Northrop Grumman’s NG-18 Commercial Resupply Services mission, the camera will be operated inside the ISS for approximately 60 days and will enable both companies to establish critical baseline knowledge in microgravity conditions and the harsh environment of space. Capture and technology teams from MSG Sphere Studios will collaborate with Voyager’s Exploration Segment and the ISS National Lab to work with astronauts on the space station across three missions to validate custom camera technology being developed for the state-of-the-art MSG Sphere venues.
We aim to bring space dreams to reality, and this unique technology will benchmark imagery at a captured level of detail never before possible – turning the vastness of space into something tangible for many on Earth. After this initial mission, two upcoming missions will further test camera capabilities in space, including power systems, data transfer structures, and space-hardening of this cutting-edge system.
MSG Sphere is a new entertainment medium that will deliver immersive experiences at an unparalleled scale, which requires developing custom content creation tools, including camera and lens technology capable of producing ultra-high-resolution images. The first MSG Sphere is under construction in Las Vegas and is expected to open in the second half of 2023. Once complete, it will be the largest spherical structure in the world with an exterior exosphere that features a fully-programmable 580,000 square foot LED display, the largest LED screen on Earth. Inside, the venue will house the world’s highest resolution LED screen – a 160,000 square foot display plane that will wrap up, over, and behind the audience at a resolution over 80 times that of a high-definition television. MSG Sphere’s vision is to create immersive experiences that transport audiences to new places – and there are few landscapes more awe-inspiring than space. To learn more about MSG Sphere, check out www.msgsphere.com.
Voyager believes space improves life on Earth, and we couldn’t be happier to work alongside MSG Sphere Studios to enable new technology development both at home and in outer space.