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Special Report
3 and 5 m. While modest in terms of pure
performance (when compared with 0.30 m
resolution from the best commercial satellites),
the main feature of these new initiatives is the
high number of platforms in orbit. This allows
very high revisit rates and makes space sensors
much more reactive than when placed on a few
satellites only.
Terra Bella (formerly Skybox Imaging) plans to
put up a constellation of around 24 satellites in the
next few years. Seven have already been launched
(the last four in September 2016). Their mass is
around 100 kg. They acquire images with a ground
resolution of about 0.90 m.
BlackSky Global, located in Seattle, plans to
put into orbit 60 imaging satellites allowing
a performance of around 1 metre ground
resolution by 2019. Six satellites are under
preparation and the first ‘Pathfinder’ was
launched in September 2016.
UrtheCast, based in Vancouver, plans to serve
the governmental market with its eight optical
and eight radar satellites in preparation. It targets
a high-quality phased optical and radar product
with 0.50 m and 1 to 5 m resolution respectively in
the optical and radar domains (OptiSAR).
In 2015, Planet and Urthecast raised
sufficient funding to acquire the space assets
of established competitors Blackbridge and
DEIMOS, re-enforcing their business model with
a ‘traditional’ satellite constellation and a client
portfolio. These first buybacks are observed
with interest by satellite EO experts and venture
capitalists to understand the dynamic of this
new economic ecosystem.
Many other projects [5] exist as of today,
with different mixes regarding the number of
satellites, mass, complexity and performance,
but with a common objective to reap market
shares using innovative dissemination practices.
Private financing
According to a recent study [6] by Bryce Space
and Technology (formerly Tauri Group), the
space start-ups (all activities included) raised
almost US$13 billion of private investments
between 2000 and 2015. In 2015, a record US$2.3
billion was spent on more than 50 investments
in space start-ups in the US.
Investments by business angels, venture
capitalists or major industrial groups can be
highly rewarding. In the case of Skybox, Google
paid more than US$480 million, while only
US$91 million had been invested in the start-
up by venture capitalists. The benefits for
them were well worth the initial effort. Planet
has been through five rounds of investments,
representing in 2016 about US$206 million
contributed by 17 investors. It recently bought
Terra Bella, highlighting that some consolidation
in this new sector is starting.
US government support
In the US, public institutions support this
new economy. A bit like the early support to
DigitalGlobe, the US government (through the
NGA) has declared many times its enthusiasm
for the NewSpace entrepreneurs in EO.
In 2015, a first initiative known as the
‘NextGen Tasking Initiative’ was announced
to sustain these new commercial activities,
especially to help with the development of new
methods for the collection, processing and
dissemination of commercially generated data.
The global picture is depicted in the
Commercial GEOINT Strategy, published the
same year by the NGA [7]. Six months later,
the creation of an ‘Outpost Valley’ close to
Silicon Valley start-ups was announced with the
reinforcement of the NGA California branch.
More recently still, a new Commercial
Initiative to Buy Operationally Responsive
GEOINT (CIBORG) was publicised with the
explicit goal of supporting the new space
imagery industry for federal users [8]. Terra
Bella, UrtheCast, Planet and BlackSky Global
have been identified as the first potential
interested parties. The first CIBORG contracts
are being signed this year with a budget
increasing over the period 2018-2022.
More and
more
countries are
becoming
active players
in Earth
observation
Pleiades image iof the
Silicon valley.
CNES/Airbus DS
