Archives for December 2023

Marble Imaging and Scanway Space have entered into a strategic partnership for the joint development of the multispectral payload for a constellation of smallsats for EO, owned by Marble Imaging.

The targeted constellation will include as many as 200 satellites that weigh approximately 100 kg each, which is planned to be launched in several stages within the next decade to provide repeated, global imaging in the very high-resolution sector.

The cooperation has already resulted in winning the prestigious German “Kleinsatelliten Nutzlastwettbewerb” competition by DLR, which will enable the development and launch of the demonstrator satellite for the future constellation. Winning the award includes free provision of the satellite platform and transport into space.

Scanway will be responsible for developing and supplying hardware – that is, EO telescopes that will work on board the satellites to provide the best quality data. The company’s team has more than seven years of experience in the development of optical payloads.

The satellites will provide global data of the Earth’s surface at a targeted resolution of 0.7-meter Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) in the Visual and Near Infrared (NIR) spectrum and will include a panchromatic band. Future satellites will also be able to image with Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) bands. The data and derived analytics will offer valuable insights for a diverse range of clients in the EU and around the world. The cooperation between capable European companies targets to strengthen the Europe based EO industry.

“Our strategic partnership will strengthen European cooperation in the Earth Observation domain. We’re looking forward to jointly developing cutting edge optical and multispectral payloads with Scanway for our constellation.” — Robert Hook, CEO and Co-Founder of Marble

“An exciting task for Scanway in the project will be to deliver a telescope allowing a very high-resolution of less than one meter (targeted 0.7 meter). The company’s long-term goal is to create solutions for constellations, which involves scaling up the production process. We are aware of this challenge, that’s why, starting January, we will have laboratory and workshop spaces nearly four times larger than before thanks to Scanway’s new headquarters, and in the next few years we will implement further production scaling processes.” — Mikołaj Podgórski, COO and Co-Founder of Scanway

“Developing our own European constellation is a big step towards breaking the dependency on the big non-European players, that are currently dominating the market”, says Alexander Epp, Co-Founder of Marble Imaging and Head of Marketing and Sales. Marble’s role will be to process, analyze and transform the obtained EO data into added value products and services. “Our goal is to create a future where rapid and informed decision-making using up-to-date, uninterrupted, accessible and detailed EO data is seamless.” — Dr. Gopika Suresh, Co-Founder and Marble’s Chief Strategy Officer.

Marble Imaging GmbH was founded in August 2023 in Bremen, a center of Germany’s aerospace innovation. Covering the entire spectrum of Earth Observation from mission design and management to data processing and analytics, Marble strives to set the benchmark for streamlined EO services for commercial and government customers. Marble’s founders have more than 10 years of experience in space systems and satellite data processing, and CEO Robert Hook has been responsible for managing major space missions, including the Copernicus CO2M mission.

Scanway is a high-tech company based in Wrocław, Poland. The team specializes in the field of vision systems and optical systems for different applications in space and on Earth. The company is divided into two fields: Scanway Space (advanced optical instruments for the space industry) and Scanway Industry (vision systems for quality control). The company has more than seven years of experience in the space industry and TRL 9 for its solutions. Scanway offers two types of products: optical telescopes for Earth Observation and camera systems for space applications, and it also conducts R&D activities in the field of optoelectronics. Since 2023, Scanway is a public company with 50+ employees on board.

Vector Space Biosciences, Inc., in collaboration with Oracle and NVIDIA, has a new smallsat launch platform designed for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

The platform is powered by…

1) A biosciences lab

2) A CubeSat lab

3) A language modeling/AI lab that includes an ensemble of small, highly targeted, biological language modeling and large biological language modeling (LLMs), generative AI, protein sequence matching, vector databases and advanced visualizations.

This pipeline enables the development of countermeasures against diseases associated with stressors resulting from human spaceflight. Countermeasures not only protect humans in space but also double as new forms of precision medicine for all mankind.

Once a CubeSat is designed, developed, and launched, data is transmitted to ground stations, in collaboration with Microsoft Azure Space. This data is augmented with current biomedical data and preprocessed for language modeling. Feature vectors are extracted from the trained models and are used to construct real-time hidden relationship networks between genes, proteins, diseases, drug compounds and other biochemicals.

Data generated from these smallsats in space is of high-value, unique as well as powerful and can also enable new discoveries in the areas of drug discovery, development and design in addition to drug repurposing which has proven to be a vital area of discovery as shown by the recent example of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide), a weight loss drug, which has been shown to help patients lose an average of 15% of their weight, also reduced incidence of heart attack, stroke or death from heart disease by 20%.

“Without understanding how to protect and repair the human body during spaceflight, we simply won’t be establishing lunar bases or going to Mars anytime soon. However, if we focus on creating solutions in this area now, we can develop and repurpose new therapeutic applications in precision medicine that benefit all mankind, today. This is the focus of Vector Space Biosciences.” — Vector Space Biosciences founder and CEO, Kasian Franks

Vector Space Biosciences trades under the cryptocurrency symbol SBIO and enables payments via its subsidiary, Vectorspace AI and its utility token, VXV. Vector Space Biosciences, Inc., (SBIO), parent company of Vectorspace AI (VXV), along with its scientific collaborators, design, develop and launch biological small satellites (CubeSats) for purpose of generating and interpreting unique datasets related to microgravity and radiation. This leads to the development of countermeasures against diseases associated to stressors connected to protecting and repairing the human body during spaceflight. This includes using a network of scientific data engineering pipelines for building targeted language models resulting in real-time datasets which power Artificial Intelligence (AI) operations in space biosciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical development. Working with leading scientific labs in the areas of human aging, cancer, and nutrigenomics, our goal is to accelerate the process of new hypothesis generation and novel discoveries in space biosciences, including materials sciences in the area of nanotechnology and nanomedicines. Developing advanced large and small language modeling/AI technologies, our platform is capable of producing more than 100,000,000,000 different real-time datasets for the purpose of accelerating discoveries. Innovations in space biosciences result in products and services for all industries, including the financial markets, more importantly, new forms of precision medicine for all humankind. Please visit us at vectorspacebio.science for more information.

Marble Imaging and Scanway Space have entered into a strategic partnership for the joint development of the multispectral payload for a constellation of smallsats for EO, owned by Marble Imaging.

The targeted constellation will include as many as 200 satellites that weigh approximately 100 kg each, which is planned to be launched in several stages within the next decade to provide repeated, global imaging in the very high-resolution sector.

The cooperation has already resulted in winning the prestigious German “Kleinsatelliten Nutzlastwettbewerb” competition by DLR, which will enable the development and launch of the demonstrator satellite for the future constellation. Winning the award includes free provision of the satellite platform and transport into space.

Scanway will be responsible for developing and supplying hardware – that is, EO telescopes that will work on board the satellites to provide the best quality data. The company’s team has more than seven years of experience in the development of optical payloads.

The satellites will provide global data of the Earth’s surface at a targeted resolution of 0.7-meter Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) in the Visual and Near Infrared (NIR) spectrum and will include a panchromatic band. Future satellites will also be able to image with Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) bands. The data and derived analytics will offer valuable insights for a diverse range of clients in the EU and around the world. The cooperation between capable European companies targets to strengthen the Europe based EO industry.

“Our strategic partnership will strengthen European cooperation in the Earth Observation domain. We’re looking forward to jointly developing cutting edge optical and multispectral payloads with Scanway for our constellation.” — Robert Hook, CEO and Co-Founder of Marble

“An exciting task for Scanway in the project will be to deliver a telescope allowing a very high-resolution of less than one meter (targeted 0.7 meter). The company’s long-term goal is to create solutions for constellations, which involves scaling up the production process. We are aware of this challenge, that’s why, starting January, we will have laboratory and workshop spaces nearly four times larger than before thanks to Scanway’s new headquarters, and in the next few years we will implement further production scaling processes.” — Mikołaj Podgórski, COO and Co-Founder of Scanway

“Developing our own European constellation is a big step towards breaking the dependency on the big non-European players, that are currently dominating the market”, says Alexander Epp, Co-Founder of Marble Imaging and Head of Marketing and Sales. Marble’s role will be to process, analyze and transform the obtained EO data into added value products and services. “Our goal is to create a future where rapid and informed decision-making using up-to-date, uninterrupted, accessible and detailed EO data is seamless.” — Dr. Gopika Suresh, Co-Founder and Marble’s Chief Strategy Officer.

Marble Imaging GmbH was founded in August 2023 in Bremen, a center of Germany’s aerospace innovation. Covering the entire spectrum of Earth Observation from mission design and management to data processing and analytics, Marble strives to set the benchmark for streamlined EO services for commercial and government customers. Marble’s founders have more than 10 years of experience in space systems and satellite data processing, and CEO Robert Hook has been responsible for managing major space missions, including the Copernicus CO2M mission.

Scanway is a high-tech company based in Wrocław, Poland. The team specializes in the field of vision systems and optical systems for different applications in space and on Earth. The company is divided into two fields: Scanway Space (advanced optical instruments for the space industry) and Scanway Industry (vision systems for quality control). The company has more than seven years of experience in the space industry and TRL 9 for its solutions. Scanway offers two types of products: optical telescopes for Earth Observation and camera systems for space applications, and it also conducts R&D activities in the field of optoelectronics. Since 2023, Scanway is a public company with 50+ employees on board.

Marlink has completed the integration of Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb LEO internet services on PONANT’s Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s only luxury icebreaker, to provide all three LEO solutions for the ship’s polar itineraries.

The installation is the first in the maritime sector to combine Marlink’s Sealink GEO VSAT, with Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Iridium LEO services. The agreement with PONANT reflects Marlink’s leadership in combining guaranteed throughput VSAT services with the emerging high speed, low latency LEO services.

The combination of three primary services means that PONANT can select the backbone VSAT for data that requires a guaranteed throughput and in addition enjoy augmented polar coverage using Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Iridium LEO services. Together Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb will enable higher speed connections across a range of applications, raising the available throughput and reducing latency for guests and crew usage onboard.

Leveraging Marlink’s expertise in smart hybrid networks, the bandwidth delivered by GEO VSAT, LEO networks and 4G/5G services will facilitate seamless collaboration between the ship’s bridge, engineering crew and shore teams, and enhance connectivity to friends and family, thanks to Marlink’s SD-WAN-orchestrated connectivity.

A hybrid electric Polar exploration vessel powered by Liquefied Natural Gas; Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s only luxury icebreaking cruiseship. With 123 staterooms and luxury service, this innovative polar vessel takes passengers to the remotest, most isolated regions of the polar world, such as the geographic North Pole, the Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea and Peter I Island. She is an integral member of PONANT’s fleet, which comprises 13, French-flagged small ships dedicated to voyages of exploration.

“PONANT is dedicated to innovation in all aspects of our operations, both for our company and our customers. The need for top-tier connectivity remains paramount, even when operating in high altitudes and extreme weather conditions. Marlink’s capability to integrate the best available connectivity across various bands and frequencies allows us to keep Le Commandant Charcot connected, ensuring the safety of our guests and crew.” — Jean-Louis Cambert, CIO, PONANT

“Marlink is delighted to extend the solution orchestrated for PONANT to include Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb, giving Le Commandant Charcot the unique combination of available services to stay connected wherever she sails. Our expertise in creating digital hybrid solutions means these new services can provide immediate guest benefits while also contributing to safe and smart vessel operations.” — Tore Morten Olsen, President, Maritime, Marlink

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (“TASL”) and Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) are collaborating to establish and develop local space technology capabilities in India — this collaboration is a first step in TASL’s satellite strategy and a significant milestone for Satellogic as the company enters the fast-growing Indian defense and commercial market.

The project will commence with comprehensive training, knowledge transfer, and local assembly of optical, sub-meter, resolution EO satellites, the first of which is planned to be launched as TSAT-1A. The focus will be on manufacturing satellites and developing imagery in India for national defense and commercial applications, toward which TASL is commissioning a satellite AIT plant at its Vemagal facility in Karnataka.

TASL and Satellogic will collaborate on the development of a new satellite design and work together to integrate multiple payloads on a single satellite that will generate a diverse range of data over India. This contract marks Satellogic’s second Space Systems customer, following an agreement with an international space agency.

“Space is important to TASL not just as a business but also due to its culture of precision that will help other activities in TASL. We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Satellogic, a company with best-in-class technology and an entrepreneurial mindset. Additionally, TASL will also work with local SMEs for payloads and other technologies to bolster India content.” — Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL

“One of our core values at Satellogic is accessibility. This collaboration will accelerate space capacity building for one of the largest nations in the world with the goal of enabling the advancement of commercial space capabilities and greater access to critical information for a range of applications such as security, sustainability, and energy,” stated . “It’s a great example of what’s possible via the Satellogic Space Systems program.” — Emiliano Kargieman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Satellogic

UP42, a geospatial developer platform and marketplace, and OroraTech, a leader in space-based thermal intelligence, have signed a partnership agreement to grant easy and fast access to global, high-resolution, thermal-infrared imagery — OroraTech delivers low-latency, global coverage, near-real-time thermal data products.

OroraTech, the first of its kind to join UP42’s growing marketplace of nearly 80 data and processing partners, provides valuable insights to customers during unpredictable events through its newly launched thermal sensor, FOREST-2. Via UP42’s marketplace, the company offers the following data products:

• On-demand tasking for near real-time data access from anywhere in the world with 400 km coverage and 200 m resolution on a daily basis.
• Access to an ever-growing future archive of thermal imagery for past event analysis. 

UP42 tasking allows for advanced capabilities such as order tracking, automated delivery, and support for complex and multi-geometry Automated Optical Inspection (AOIs). Furthermore, OroraTech’s tasked data is managed in UP42’s STAC-compatible storage, simplifying the search and management of data for easier processing and integrations.

OroraTech’s high-resolution thermal data serves customers on six continents, ranging from forestry and utility companies to governmental organizations and geospatial experts. Facilitating rapid disaster response, location accuracy, and predictive analytics, its data helps assess risks, minimize losses, and supports 24/7 response measures.

“As global temperatures rise, wildfires and heat waves are having an increasing impact on people, the environment, and economies. In 2022 alone, heat waves accounted for 99% of all climate-related deaths in Europe. Expanding our offering with OroraTech’s thermal-infrared data will help our customers build early-warning and monitoring systems to help us mitigate the impact of these climate-related emergencies.” — Sean Wiid, CEO of UP42

“With UP42 our customers have easy and quick access to our thermal tasking capability. This partnership accelerates our route to the geospatial market.” — Axel Roenneke, CCO at OroraTe

UP42 was founded in 2019 with a clear purpose: to provide quick and easy access to geospatial data and analytics. You’ll get the world’s leading providers of optical, radar, elevation, and aerial data, all in one place. Our developer-first platform offers flexible APIs and a Python SDK to help you build and scale your solutions. Search the catalog for existing imagery, or task a satellite to capture your desired area. Whatever your use case, UP42 is the one-stop-shop for all your geospatial data needs.

OroraTech is a global intelligence-as-a-service company leveraging thermal data for a sustainable Earth. Their product, Wildfire Solution, powered by high-resolution thermal data from our proprietary space-based sensor system, is trusted worldwide for revolutionizing wildfire detection. Since 2022, OroraTech has established a comprehensive global monitoring network, delivering real-time situational awareness and prompt risk alerts. The cutting-edge system detects fires of any scale, day or night, ensuring timely action. Founded in 2018, OroraTech is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with operations in Canada and Brazil. With a dedicated team of 90 experts, OroraTech is committed to delivering innovative solutions for a sustainable future.