The falling cost of launch services and advances in satellite manufacturing has created an absolute boom in satellite manufacturers and operators. One of the fastest-growing segments is in Earth observation (EO) platforms that use Synthetic Aperture Radar.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) uses radar for Earth imaging that can penetrate through clouds, operates at night, and can even track motion in some cases. SAR doesn’t require the large lenses of optical EO, works well in constellations, and as some companies are demonstrating, even for small satellites of 100kg and under. These SAR constellations can easily work in concert to image large areas, or they can image the same area repeatedly to capture details or even track motion.
There are now enough providers launching satellites and offering services to warrant an overview. Here are some of the newer notable providers, broken down by country and/or region.
Synthetic Aperture Radar in the United States: capitalizing on existing advantages
Unsurprisingly, considering its advantages in technological and launch infrastructure, the US has a variety of competitive SAR companies.
Capella Space is America’s most established SAR company. They already have four satellites in orbit, including their original “Sequoia” satellite and — as of a May 15, 2021 SpaceX Falcon 9 launch — three 100kg “Whitney” SAR microsatellites. Capella has US$82 million in investment after several successful rounds, and already has relationships with several branches of the US Government, including the National Reconnaissance Office, the Navy and Air Force, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Capella offers automated constellation tasking to its clients, and even makes some historical imagery available to broader communities as part of their Open Data Program. It has a NOAA license for up to 36 satellites, and permission to sell radar images globally.
One rising competitor is PredaSAR, which is still in the early stages of developing their capabilities. While they have US$25 million in funding after a seed round led by Fuel Venture Capital, and have an ambitious plan to create a constellation of 48 SAR satellites, they have nothing in orbit as of yet nor any launch dates.
PredaSAR does appear to have some competitive edges. They’re owned by Terran Orbital, which also owns satellite manufacturer Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems. PredaSAR is using Tyvak to produce PredaSAR’s constellation, and leveraging Tyvak’s existing relationship with SpaceX for launch. But their biggest edge is that they’ve said that they’re focused specifically on meeting the needs of the American intelligence and defence community. Their executive suite includes a variety of former US defence officials, including PredaSAR CEO Major General Rogers.
It’s Umbra Space, however, that may be the most transformative US SAR provider. Umbra has amassed slightly less that $45M(USD) over 3 funding rounds, and is in the process of building and launching the first satellite in its planned constellation of 50kg nanosatellites. But Umbra’s Head of Product Succss, Joe Morrison, was not shy in a recent GeoIgnite EO panel in decrying how SAR companies (like PredaSAR) are focused on catering to intelligence and defence clients, and that they would need to learn how to sell to the private sector in order to truly prosper.
Umbra’s advantage isn’t in their partnerships, but their technology and approach. Umbra has received FCC approval to operate with 1200 MHZ of bandwidth, meaning that they can (in their words) “detect items as small as a soda can from space”. No other provider currently has that capability. They also have a patented antenna whose design allows the satellite to quickly settle after slewing, letting it more easily “spotlight” specific areas to gather more focused data. They want to use this technology to focus on keeping customer costs as low and predictable as possible, with Morrison saying that “satellite imagery is a raw material”.
Asia-Pacific: Home to several Synthetic Aperture Radar startups
Meanwhile, in East Asia, there are three SAR startups that stand out: two in Japan, and one in China. They are primarily focused on the Asia Pacific market, but are ITAR-free.
While Japan’s SAR startup Synspective has received nearly $120M over 3 funding rounds, the most valuable asset might be their relationship with the Japanese Cabinet Office’s ImPACT program. Synspective used technology developed in conjunction with ImPACT and with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to develop their 100kg microsat, StriX-α, which was launched by Electron Labs in Dec. of 2020.
This first satellite is already sending imagery, but Synspective has said that their next satellite, the StriX-β, will include Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) capabilities that let satellites detect millimeter-scale shifts in ground surface, and help with continual monitoring of cities and infrastructure. They’re already marketing these capabilities to clients in the Asia-Pacific, and plan on a constellation of 30+ SAR satellites.
Japan’s other major SAR startup, Kyushu-based iQPS (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space), has had $29.4M(USD) in funding so far across 3 rounds. They launched their first satellite in 2019, and recently put a second satellite into orbit as part of SpaceX’s record-breaking Transporter-1 launch last January. iQPS is aiming at a constellation of at least 36 100kg satellites, and is in talks with over 100 potential clients.
iQPS highlights two pieces of patented technology as key differentiators. The first is a 3.6m unfolding parabolic antenna that helps to keep satellite size and weight down while allowing for a 1m image resolution. They plan to upgrade the technology to allow for both increased spotlighting and widening the imagery swath. The other is a patented debris sensor, which could prove useful as LEO becomes increasingly crowded with satellites and debris.
One other major Asian SAR player is based out of China: Spacety. Spacety is a Chinese micro-nanosatellite manufacturing startup marketing “satellites-as-a-service”, with nearly $39M in investment, that’s put 18 satellites in orbit. Spacety is also working on building an 56-sat SAR constellation and launched their first SAR satellite (the 185kg Hisea-1) in December.
Even outside of the SAR space, Spacety is notable as China’s first space startup. That not only means that they have significant manufacturing experience and capability, but it also means that they can leverage existing assets for their SAR constellation. The Hisea-1’s ThrustMe iodine propulsion system, for example, has already been tested using Spacety cubesats, and will allow satellites in the Spacety constellation to more easily reposition for orbit maintenance, collision avoidance, and eventual deorbiting.
Canada and Europe: SAR’s most established and most potentially disruptive players
Finally, there are two notable players outside of the aforementioned region: Finland’s ICEYE and Canada’s Alpha Insights.
Like Capella Space, Finland’s ICEYE is an established SAR provider and a standard-bearer for SAR imaging. ICEYE has a constellation of ten microsatellites, with ten new satellite missions planned for 2021 to keep up with demand. It has received over $150M(USD) in funding over 8 rounds, and signed €42M in contracts last year. In fact, ICEYE-X1 was the world’s first SAR microsatellite, as well as Finland’s first commercial satellite.
ICEYE’s technology matches its counterparts, but its greatest competitive advantage is its maturity. It features the largest constellation, most proven technology, and most expansive offerings of anyone in the space. It offers an extensive public archive of imagery, including a variety of sample datasets, and as a Finnish company it can market its services to sovereign governments outside the United States. It even publishes materials on flooding for the insurance industry. It is, by far, the safest bet.
Meanwhile, It’s Canada’s Alpha Insights that may serve as SAR’s greatest disruptive gamble. After Canadian EO pioneer Urthecast declared bankruptcy, its assets were divided between several different entities. Much of it was bought by Antarctica Capital and turned into EarthDaily Analytics, but its SAR technology was bought by Alpha Insights after a seed investment from Prime Mover Labs. Neither EarthDaily nor Alpha Insights has yet put a satellite in orbit.
The technology, however, could be a game-changer. Urthecast had been working on dual-band SAR, using both X-band and L-band radar. This combination can, according to AI, give their SAR the capability to penetrate through trees, foliage, camouflage, dry soil, sand, and even through “biomass”. It would be an exciting development if it panned out. Alpha Insights plans to launch their first satellite in 2022, and has a $4M contract with a confidential customer for their SAR-XL technology.
It’s a different industry than the one that Urthecast operated in even a few years ago, and there are a lot of players, including some smaller ones not mentioned here.