TAMPA, Florida – SatVu has booked launches for its second and third spacecraft to get Britain's thermal imaging constellation back on track after its first satellite failed six months after launch.
SpaceX is under contract to launch HotSat-2 in the first half of next year and HotSat-3 in the second half, SatVu (formerly Satellite Vu) CEO Anthony Baker said. SpaceNews 15 th of May.
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) is building both spacecraft, which would be similar to the 160-kilogram HotSat-1 demonstration satellite provided by the British manufacturer. a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch in June.
Before suffering an anomaly that ended services in December, Baker said HotSat-1 was successfully serving customers such as Japan Space Imaging Corporation (JSI), a provider of geospatial information for civil, commercial, defense markets and intelligence.
He said research is underway into HotSat-1, designed to operate for five years in low-Earth orbit and fully insured for an amount SatVu does not disclose.
He said the cause was likely a problem with the satellite's camera power circuit, and was not related to SatVu's intellectual property.
“We have every confidence that the camera is as good as we said and we have proven it,” Baker added, pointing to previous tests conducted from airplanes.
The satellite was based on SSTL's DarkCarb design, using medium wave infrared (MWIR) technology to capture thermal images with a resolution of 3.5 meters.
Reborn from the ashes
SatVu sees the greatest demand for its images in the commercial and national security markets.
“With traditional Earth observation, you look at the outside of a structure, to count cars, etc.,” he said. “We tell you if something is active.”
These economic indicators can provide more visibility into a company's supply chain and help inform financial operators.
“Obviously the defense community is interested in exactly the same thing,” Baker continued, “some members of the defense community have this data, but it is highly classified. “Now they can get a set of data that they can share and it is much more useful.”
satvu had ordered HotSat-2 from SSTL in 2022 but suspended it, initially due to a funding delay and then to evaluate HotSat-1's performance in orbit.
The company finally raised around $16 million in May 2023a month before the launch of HotSat-1, from investors including Lockheed Martin.
Baker said this round fully funded HotSat-2 and the company is close to finalizing additional financing to meet all of HotSat-3's financing needs.
He said SatVu is also in talks to secure customers ahead of the launch of HotSat-2 next year, including one in India.
With two satellites in orbit, he said SatVu could generate enough annual recurring revenue by mid-2026 to qualify for a growth financing round that would pay for seven additional satellites.
More satellites would give SatVu more ability to image more locations at different times of day and increase revisit rates.
SatVu had initially proposed a constellation of seven satellites, but now plans nine in total to meet expected demand, enough to measure the heat coming out of a building several times a day.
The company's competitors in An increasingly crowded market for thermal imaging. They include Germany's OroraTech and constellr, Spain's Aistech and Satlantis, Washington-based Hydrosat and Colorado-based Albedo.
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