Investors warm to space-based infrared

Anthony Baker and his team at Satellite Vu are leading what promises to be a new frontier in Earth observation: high-resolution IR

Is the hottest new thing in Earth observation literally...heat? London-headquartered Satellite Vu thinks it has the key to unlocking a suite of commercial and government applications, in the form of an infrared camera that promises 3.5m resolution. That’s fine enough to help realise a green energy revolution – fine enough, for example, to measure heat loss from individual buildings.

A clutch of early investors led by Seraphim Capital share the vision. They went public in April with the outcome of a ￡3.6m seed round that priced out in October, and adds to a nearly ￡1.4m grant announced in December from the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme. I had the chance to speak to co-founder and chief executive Anthony Baker about how his company now plans to advance to a first, polar, launch in the fourth quarter of 2022 and then through another two launches to inclined orbits that will give it a seven-satellite constellation with unique capability.

Baker says the UKSA grant let it fast-track construction – by partner Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) – of the IR camera that will fly in space, which was completed on 1 April. SSTL is also building the first satellite. With seed round funding four-times oversubscribed at one point, says Baker, “we have soft commitments” to support a summer funding round which will target ￡8m to keep progress on track for that late-2022 launch.

The project says much about the value – and challenge – of IR data. Satellite Vu’s planned spacecraft are billed as “less than 1/10th the size and cost of other infrared imaging satellites” but Baker still describes his satellite as “quite a beast” at 150kg. Smaller hardware wouldn’t be compatible with 3.5m resolution, says Baker, but the overall satellite size – familiar to many SSTL customers – means it may be possible to carry a small hosted payload.

Power output of a generating plant can be estimated from IR imagery (Satellite Vu)

Once in orbit, Satellite Vu promises a service like no other. Europe’s Copernicus programme, for example, delivers midwave IR data at around 100m resolution, and one of the programme’s planned Sentinel spacecraft will provide 30m resolution data on land temperatures. But where these free data sets give a “macro view”, fine detail can be had by buying Satellite Vu’s images.

The plan is to focus coverage on the mid-latitudes, where the human population is concentrated. The two launches to inclined orbits are most likely to be via one of the piggyback services; SpaceX, adds Baker, is “a great deal for us” at 200kg for $1m. With a SpaceX launch, he adds, best coverage would be between 53deg north and south. Higher latitudes will be visible from the first satellite, flying solo in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit.

In any event, the Satellite Vu constellation promises exceptional coverage from 500km. Six satellites in their inclined orbits will deliver a revisit rate of 10-20 times daily depending on the latitude of the target, which Baker bills as a unique feature. The advantage comes from being able to point left, right, up and down, ideal for when a customer wants a dedicated snapshot of a specific target.

When a satellite is not in this “tasking mode” to deliver what Baker calls the “premium product”, the plan is to take background data and build, for example, city thermal maps. These products will support a range of commercial applications. Construction companies could find buildings that leak heat, or identify brownfield sites suitable for development; fine-grained IR data can inform what’s already on a piece of ground and whether or not it is occupied. Similarly, insurance companies may want insight into whether or not buildings are occupied. Mortgage companies could determine energy efficiency, which affects rates.

In the public and defence/security realms, Baker also sees much interest. His expectation now is that Satellite Vu’s business will split about 60/40 commercial/government.

EVERY PIXEL COUNTS

Between now and launch, much work remains to be done on fine-tuning analytics capability to support the image acquisition and “get the most out of each pixel”. Building such a compact but capable IR camera, says Baker, “does come with some challenges optically, but those we correct with software on the ground.” We have, he adds, “some unique IP”.

For now, Satellite Vu itself and customers are familiarising themselves with the product thanks to imagery delivered by small aircraft carrying an engineering model of the camera, also built by SSTL. These images, for example of individual buildings, can be downgraded to simulate what will be delivered from space. For validation purposes they will be repeated once a satellite is flying, and will also give some information on change over time.

Some customers find this airborne data useful, so flying these missions helps the company gain “commercial traction”, says Baker: “It’s a service we can kick off now.” Revenue supports the airborne service, says Baker, but won’t cover building and launching satellites.

Anthony Baker: "Beast" of a spacecraft to deliver fine images (Satellite Vu)

Apart from Seraphim, seed round investors are A/O Proptech – the London-based property technology venture capital firm – Ridgeline Ventures, the Earth Science Foundation, E2MC Ventures and Stellar Solutions.

Satellite Vu is an alumni of the Seraphim Space Camp accelerator programme, which Baker describes as having been “a great process for us”. Despite 25 years experience in satellites he had never raised venture capital, but a nine-week Space Camp experience showed his team “how a VC thinks” and what are their priorities: “We could then go execute on those.”

So, when time came to raise money, Seraphim Capital knew Satellite Vu well enough to lead the round – and bring the connections of an experienced venture capital operator: “That network is hugely valuable.”

Of Seraphim, he adds, as a space specialist “they know the right questions to ask”. Some other investors are not so familiar with space, but they “can rely on that [Seraphim] due diligence.”

Day or night, IR delivers new perspectives; this image of Stanlow refinery in Liverpool taken from an aircraft with an engineering model of Satellite Vu's space camera shows flows in pipelines (Satellite Vu)

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Dan Thisdell adds: I write about European spaceflight: industry, politics, science and money. After a fruitful mid-career at Flight International, I am preparing to launch a newsletter for space industry investors: Geoconomy. Watch this space and contact me via LinkedIn - especially if your company should be profiled.