SAN FRANCISCO – Satellogic, the South American company known for high-resolution multispectral imagery, is selling Earth-observation satellites for $10 million or less.
Satellogic’s new Space Systems product is designed to appeal to customers eager to establish or expand their space capabilities rather than simply buying imagery.
“Space agencies around the world want access to this kind of satellite for their own uses, be that civil, research or defensive and intelligence,” Matt Tirman, Satellogic chief commercial officer, told SpaceNews. “We’ve seen huge demand for it.”
Custom Orders
Satellogic is offering delivery in orbit within three months of an order for the company’s dishwasher-size satellites. For other customers, Satellogic is offering to transfer intellectual property.
“They want us to come in and advise them on setting up an assembly, integration and test facilities,” Tirman said.
Satellogic is not subject to U.S. export controls like the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and customers do not need National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration licenses for Earth imagery since the company is not based in the United States.
“Not falling under ITAR and NOAA licensing is a huge value proposition for us and for the market as well,” Tirman said.
Growing Demand
Satellogic, founded in 2010, operates a constellation of 30 Earth-observation satellites. By the end of the year, Satellogic will have more than 40 satellites supplying customers with Earth imagery, analytics and satellite tasking, Tirman said.
At the core of Satellogic’s business is the company’s ability “to build at scale very high quality smallsats for not very much money” compared with traditional Earth-observation satellites, Tirman said.
In the last two years, Satellogic has seen growing demand for satellites, especially among emerging space programs in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Tirman said. As a result, Satellogic established its Space Systems arm in January.
