TOKYO -- Canon will put a miniature satellite under development in orbit in March on a trial mission, as the Japanese company seeks liftoff for a business that could generate tens of billions of yen annually.
Satellites are employed in fields such as communications, broadcasting and weather. But smaller versions are being developed for expanded commercial applications. Images produced from those miniature satellites can be used for agriculture, disaster prevention and container tracking at ports. Such images also can help determine the best places to build parking lots, among other market research uses.
