ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE WITH ONBOARD SENSOR FUSION

Application No. 19/057,506

• Filed: Feb 19, 2025
• Priority: Mar 12, 2024 — provisional 63/564,279
• Examiner: BROWN, SHEREE N
• Assignee: Xplore Inc.
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Application Status
This office action is responsive to the Application No.:19/057,506, filed on 02/19/2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending and presented for examination.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/26/2026; 05/07/2026; 05/28/2025; 02/19/2025 is being considered by the examiner. A signed IDS is hereby attached.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.

Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EZAWA, US 20220242593 in view of CHEN, US 20190011077.
Claim 1:
EZAWA discloses an artificial satellite (See EZAWA Abstract; Paragraphs 0044-0047) but failed to explicitly disclose “a transceiver” and “payload processor”. However, CHEN discloses this feature in 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified EZAWA by the teachings of CHEN to enable improved accuracy control of a payload (i.e. artificial satellite) (See CHEN Abstract). In addition, both of the references teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, managing images provided by a payload (i.e. artificial satellite). This close relation between both of the references highly suggests an expectation of success (See CHEN Paragraph 0163).
As modified:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses the following:
a plurality of computer processors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0072; 0343-0347) each including a memory (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0072; 0343-0347);
a plurality of sensors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0066-0069) operable to capture image data (See EZAWA Figure 9, Item S105; Paragraphs 0155-0156);
and at least one transceiver (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150);
wherein the plurality of computer processors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0072; 0343-0347) includes at least one flight processor and at least one payload processor (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150);
wherein the at least one payload processor (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150) is operable to automatically correct the image data (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0050; 0089; 0112; 0134) via orthorectification, georectification, radiometric correction (See EZAWA Paragraph 0163; 0205), and/or pan sharpening (See EZAWA Paragraph 0165; 0205);
wherein the at least one payload processor (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150) includes an artificial intelligence engine (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0044-0047) operable to classify objects, identify objects, and/or tag objects within the image data (See EZAWA Paragraph 0190; 0199);
and wherein the at least one payload processor (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150) is operable to fuse images having common object classifications, common object identifications, and/or common object tags (See EZAWA Paragraph 0190; 0199).
Claim 2:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses at least one solar cell operable to power the plurality of computer processors and the plurality of sensors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0062; 0066-0069).
Claim 3:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein each of the plurality of sensors are independently mounted on a separate gimbal (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150).
Claim 4:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein each of the separate gimbals are operable to rotate about a plurality of axes (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150).
Claim 5:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein the plurality of sensors include at least one Red, Green, Blue (RGB) video telescope, at least one hyperspectral sensor, at least one ultraviolet instrument, at least one infrared spectrometer, and/or at least one automatic identification system receiver (See EZAWA Paragraph 0204).
Claim 6:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein the orthorectification includes generating a digital elevation model (See EZAWA Paragraph 0058).
Claim 7:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein the digital elevation model (See EZAWA Paragraph 0058) uses a same sensor type oriented at a different angle or a different sensor type that includes the common object classifications, the common object identifications, and/or the common object tags (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0065-0066).
Claim 8:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein correcting the image data (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0050; 0089; 0112; 0134) does not require the image data to be transmitted to a ground station (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0046; 0051; 0054; 0056; 0066).
Claim 9:
Claim 9 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Claim 10:
Claim 10 is rejected on the same basis as claim 8.
Claim 11:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein the at least one transceiver (See CHEN Paragraphs 0113-0114; 0126-0128; 0135; 0150) is operable to receive uplink messages from at least one ground station (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0046; 0051) instructing the plurality of sensors to target a common destination (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0066-0069).
Claim 12:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses wherein the at least one flight processor (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0072; 0343-0347) is dedicated to processing tasks related to movement and navigation of the artificial satellite (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0044-0047; 0359-0366).
Claim 13:
The combination of EZAWA and CHEN discloses at least one solar cell (See EZAWA Paragraph 0062) operable to power the plurality of sensors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0066-0069) and the plurality of computer processors (See EZAWA Paragraphs 0072; 0343-0347).
Claims 14-16:
Claims 14-16 are rejected on the same basis as claims 4-6.
Claim 17:
Claim 17 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Claims 18-20:
Claims 18-20 are rejected on the same basis as claims 6-8.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent No.: 11544509 classify labels based on images using artificial intelligence.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEREE N BROWN whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAID BROOME can be reached at [phone]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.

/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 September 4, 2026

Prosecution Timeline

• Feb 19, 2025: Application Filed
• Sep 09, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)