Satellogic, a company that specializes in sub-meter resolution Earth Observation (“EO”) data collection from space, is now making this data available to users of Waterloo based SkyWatch’s EarthCache platform.
EarthCache allows its users to browse archived EO data, as well as task new satellite imagery using a variety of criteria. Many EarthCache consumers of this EO data come from natural resources industries such as mining and oil & gas.
“The partnership between Satellogic and SkyWatch enables SkyWatch customers to access Satellogic’s high-frequency, high-resolution multispectral imagery via the EarthCache platform,” said Kelly Winter, SkyWatch’s Senior Director of Marketing. “Currently, EarthCache customers are able to task Satellogic’s SuperResolution 70cm imagery, and also have access to a curated archive of previously-collection Satellogic imagery. This partnership will also make Satellogic’s 99cm multispectral imagery available, via the EarthCache platform, in the near future.”
According to Daniel Smulovitz, Satellogic’s Vice President of Marketing, the key benefits of this deal for EarthCache users is their access to more global EO data and their newfound ability to task the Satellogic constellation. “Satellogic not only provides high-quality imagery, but also offers greater global tasking capacity than most operators,” he said. This is because “Satellogic operates one of the largest high-resolution commercial EO constellations; it provides greater global tasking capacity to help customers capture exactly what they need, when they need it.”
As of June 12, 2023 the company had 38 NewSat satellites in sun-synchronous low Earth orbit.
The word ‘affordable’ is central to the value of this deal, since SkyWatch’s EarthCache platform was created to simplify access to pay-as-you-go remote sensing data,” said Smulovitz, “As for Satellogic, expanding its reseller network supports its mission of democratizing access to critical EO data.”
Making this deal happen has been quick and painless for both companies. Technical teams at SkyWatch and Satellogic worked together on the integration process to make Satellogic’s data products available within the SkyWatch infrastructure. This process involved coordination on imagery and metadata ingestion; the intake of imagery requests incoming from EarthCache and making sure these requests are tasked appropriately to their satellites, and the delivery of processed EO data to users in a timely manner.
James Slifierz, SkyWatch’s CEO and co-founder said a in a news release announcing the deal, “we are thrilled to announce that EO data from Satellogic is now available to the thousands of organizations that depend on SkyWatch for their remote sensing needs. Satellogic’s constellation is unparalleled, offering our customers industry-leading capacity for high-quality, high-resolution imagery. We are also delighted to collaborate with an organization that echoes our values for the Earth observation industry: data that is easily discoverable, widely available, and affordably priced.”
Satellogic is currently towards daily global remaps of the Earth’s surface and expects that to happen once their constellation reaches 200+. They also state on their website that they will achieve monthly remaps once they have 40+ satellites on-orbit.