Canadian geospatial firm EarthDaily has released the first public images from its EDC-01 satellite, confirming that its ABB-developed imaging system meets the rigorous technical standards required for daily global monitoring.
EarthDaily said the milestone validates the satellite’s high-capacity architecture—capable of digitizing 20 billion pixels per second—as the they prepares to launch six additional satellites for their Earth observation constellation this May ahead of full commercial operations expected this summer.
Launched in June 2025, EDC-01 serves as a precursor to a 10-satellite constellation designed for high-precision, broad-area change detection. The payload is among the most powerful ever put into orbit, with each spacecraft carrying 16 independent multispectral imaging assemblies. These operate across 22 spectral bands—spanning visible, near-infrared, shortwave infrared, and thermal wavelengths—to produce stable, science-grade measurements.
According to ABB, “Each spacecraft will carry 12 visible and near infrared imagers (VNIR), two short wave infrared imagers (SWIR), and two thermal infrared imagers (LWIR)”.
Early data confirms the system operates near the “diffraction limit”—a performance benchmark often viewed as a “holy grail” in space imaging—allowing for results comparable to leading public missions like Sentinel-2, but with higher spatial precision. With the six additional satellites launching in May 2026 and another three scheduled for later this year, the constellation is on track for full commercial operations by summer 2026. An additional three satellites are scheduled to launch later this year.
“This moment validates years of shared vision and disciplined engineering between EarthDaily and ABB,” said Don Osborne, CEO of EarthDaily. “From day one, ABB committed to the precision and rigor required to build a true planetary measurement system.”
Osborne added that the objective was to build a system that performs at operational scale: “Validating that system in orbit before constellation expansion was essential. With this milestone achieved, we are ready for what comes next”.
Frederic Grandmont of ABB’s Measurement & Analytics division noted the importance of consistency across the fleet: “ABB is proud to be a part of the EarthDaily Constellation project set to transform the understanding of natural and human-caused change on Earth. Sensor to sensor reproducibility is key when operating a 160-camera constellation working as one”