Maxar and Umbra team up
Maxar has signed an agreement with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) startup Umbra to receive dedicated capacity on Umbra’s constellation starting in Q2 2023. Umbra SAR data will first be integrated into Maxar’s Rapid Access Program platform, enabling virtual tasking alongside Maxar’s optical fleet. Key Quilty takeaways:
- Following Maxar’s acquisition of radio-frequency mapping startup Aurora Insight, Maxar has now added a third “phenomenology” to its suite of imagery data types. Maxar is putting the pieces in place to blend its optical imagery with RF maps and now SAR to provide more holistic understanding of what is happening on Earth
- Maxar has access to Radarsat-2, the SAR satellite it owned before divesting MDA in 2019, but still had reasons to pursue new options. Radarsat-2 is several years old and will eventually retire. Plus, proliferated LEO smallsat constellations have become increasingly important. It would take years and nine-figure capex spending for Maxar to build its own SAR constellation, making partnership the more pragmatic route
- Given Maxar’s leadership in very high-resolution optical imagery, it makes sense the company would partner with a SAR operator equally focused on VHR. Umbra has published imagery at 50cm resolution and plans to offer considerably sharper data in the future. The company is licensed for resolutions down to 13cm
- For Umbra, the partnership grants access to an analytics powerhouse that can help extract the most value out of Umbra SAR imagery. Analytics is an expensive skillset, making it advantageous for a startup to lean on a veteran with more experience
- Maxar’s closest optical VHR competitors Airbus Intelligence and ImageSat International complement their optical imagery with SAR – Airbus through its own fleet and ImageSat through a partnership with Italian company e-GEOS. In a multi-sensor world, Maxar needed a way to offer SAR or risk losing market share to other satellite operators
SOURCE: https://investor.maxar.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2023/Maxar-Secures-Dedicated-Access-to-Umbras-SAR-Constellation-Creating-the-Geospatial-Industrys-Most-Advanced-Multisource-Intelligence-Solution/default.aspx