Earth observation
Iceye establishes U.S. office, considers U.S. manufacturing
Iceye, the Finnish radar satellite operator, opened a U.S. office in the San Francisco Bay Area led by Mark Matossian, who managed a series of aerospace programs at Google including the Earth-imaging venture Terra Bella.
Descartes Labs unveils data refinery, modeling platform
Descartes Labs unveiled Jan. 22 a cloud-based platform for commercial customers that pairs geospatial datasets with modeling tools and applications.
Iceye releases dark vessel detection product
Radar satellite operator Iceye released a product to detect dark vessels, ships at sea that are not identifying themselves with Automatic Identification System transponders.
Spire Global shares early data from GNSS Reflectometry satellites
Spire Global shared the first light data from its new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Reflectometry satellites at the American Meteorological Society conference in Boston.
Earth observation startup SkyWatch raises $7.5 million
Canadian startup SkyWatch has raised $7.5 million to continue developing software that makes satellite imagery more accessible.
NASA to buy more commercial Earth observation data
NASA will seek continued access to Earth observation data gathered by commercial satellite constellations after a pilot program proved the value of those observations.
NASA Earth Science leaders anticipate low-cost launch options
NASA Earth Science leaders are enthusiastic about the potential for principal investigators to take advantage of new low-cost launch options.
Near Space Labs releases high-resolution imagery API
Near Space Labs unveiled an application programming interface Dec. 9 offering access to high-resolution imagery captured by cameras on weather balloons.
Study pegs cost of imagery constellation at $300 million
A new study says companies can build, launch and operate constellations to gather global imagery with a resolution of one meter for a fraction of the cost of previous constellations.
Umbra emerges from stealth mode with plans to offer 25-centimeter radar at optical imagery prices
After years of secrecy, Umbra Lab is revealing details of its plan to launch a constellation of 50-kilogram synthetic aperture radar satellites to capture imagery with a resolution of 25 centimeters.
Iceye’s one-meter Spotlight becomes commercially available
Iceye announced plans Oct. 16 to begin offering commercial access to its Spotlight mode, offering one-meter resolution synthetic aperture radar imagery.
NRO awards imagery subscription contract to Planet
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded a commercial imagery subscription contract to Planet Labs Federal, a subsidiary of Earth observation company Planet.
Planet to offer higher resolution, more spectral bands
Planet is preparing to offer 50-centimeter-resolution imagery from its SkySat constellation and updating Dove satellites to gather imagery in eight spectral bands.
Earth observation customers want speedy satellite tasking
Companies supplying Earth observation data should speed up satellite tasking for customers whose demands are time sensitive, according to a panel of Earth observation experts at the Satellite Innovation 2019 conference.
Royal Thai Air Force taps Innovative Solutions in Space to build second Earth observation satellite
The Royal Thai Air Force ordered a second Earth observation satellite from Innovative Solutions in Space (ISISpace) of the Netherlands, under a contract that includes the satellite's ground segment, satellite commissioning and training.
Airbus subsidiary UP42 unveils data, analytics platform
Airbus Defence and Space subsidiary UP42 unveiled Sept. 17 a commercial data and analytics platform that offers access to satellite imagery, other geospatial datasets and algorithms.
