Crop monitoring, irrigation control, tree counting, estimation of biophysical variables, monitoring of production and classification of land use are some of the challenges facing the agricultural and forestry sectors.Thanks to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and images of up to one meter resolution -which it obtains from its own constellation of satellites-, the Argentine company Satellogic provides solutions that allow optimizing decision making at a very competitive value.
It also has a product development team in Tel Aviv, Israel; and a business development office in Miami, USA. The most recent headquarters of the company located in Beijing, China, will focus its efforts on the exclusive customization of constellations, data services and industrial applications.
On January 15, the firm announced a service agreement for multiple launches with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC). The Asian company will take 90 microsatellites from the company from its base in Taiyuan.The first launch - planned for the last four months of the year on a Long March 6 (LM-6) rocket - will put 13 new devices in orbit, Satellogic informed iProUP.
The microsatellite fleet included in the framework of this agreement will form a constellation for Earth observation that will have the capacity to provide weekly images of one-meter resolution of the entire planet, drastically reducing the cost of high-level geospatial analysis services. frequency.
"We are proud to continue developing our successful working relationship with Satellogic," said GAO Ruofei, Executive Vice President of CGWIC. And he added: "The Satellogic constellation will initiate a new era of Earth observation, just as the LM-6 will open new opportunities for the space industry worldwide."Marco Bressan, Head of Solutions and Chief Data Scientist at Satellogic, spoke with iProUP about its balance sheet in 2018 and its plans for 2019.- What is it for and who uses satellite information?
- Our commitment to the client is based on understanding and analyzing what their needs are and offering our experience along with the technical capabilities to solve their challenges.
Through the technology we use today it is possible to access information and analyze it to solve problems in time, make better decisions and achieve production objectives.
For example, a farmer can optimize his production taking decisions in advance in the use of fertilizer and irrigation or pest control. And, in this way, achieve better yields and optimize their resources.
In turn, a forestry company can monitor large areas and their species in a personalized way, perform inventories, delimit the land and classify the land using accurate and reliable information.It is also possible to analyze the use of land, changes in vegetation, infrastructure monitoring and compliance with environmental regulations.
The automated information provided by Satellogic through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms gives companies the possibility to obtain data on a large scale, with greater
frequency, accuracy and at a lower cost than traditional operations.
This is reflected in an improvement in the cost per hectare that the producer ends up paying.- How is the client portfolio made up?- At what stage of the business plan are you?
- Our plan is to launch more satellites in the coming years, which will allow us to provide additional innovative solutions that require a greater frequency of the images obtained.
- How do artificial intelligence apply to the data collected by your satellites?
The satellite images contain answers to a series of questions that are very relevant for the sectors for which we work: what has changed in the last week? Has the road network been modified? Which crops are growing in that region and at what stage of growth are they? What has been the exact impact of a certain event?
It would be impossible to answer all these questions by doing this work manually, since it would be very expensive and even more in large areas where it would be impossible to achieve it.At Satellogic we have state-of-the-art technology to extract information from satellite images and other data sources that can be used to answer these questions in a fully automated manner and on a wider scale, covering the entire planet.- What is the market you are going to focus on in 2019?
- The solutions we provide are focused on the agricultural, forestry, energy, insurance and other civil government applications, such as cartography and environmental monitoring.- Who are the main consumers of information of satellite origin?
- The main use that is given to the observation of the earth through the satellites, beyond the use in the defense area, are the environmental functionalities and the applications in the agricultural industry, besides the monitoring of the infrastructure of the energy, cartography, the response to catastrophes, among other uses.- Are Satellogic's satellites cheaper?
- The satellites we manufacture are leaders in price-quality ratio, because thanks to the innovative design and the advanced technology we use, we can develop high quality images - one meter resolution - in smaller and lighter equipment at a much lower cost than the competition.
This is what makes launching a constellation of tens or -eventually- hundreds of satellites not inaccessible.- Who are your competitors?
- Satellogic is the first vertically integrated geospatial analysis company. Our competitors in the area of data generation are Planet and Digital Globe, and there are other smaller companies that compete with us in the analytical area.- How did they close 2018 compared to 2017? How many satellites do you have in orbit and plan to launch in 2019?- Satellogic started its commercial activity selling geospatial analytical solutions in 2018. Currently, we have around a dozen clients and with 5 satellites in orbit. We plan to launch at least 16 more in 2019.- How do you evaluate the economic situation in Argentina and how much does it affect your plans?
- Our business belongs to a market of global scale that is in continuous growth because the new technologies allow to develop solutions that were not possible before.
We are not limited to a region or country, so fortunately we are not affected by the economic situation of a specific nation.
We have offices in cities of six countries: Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, San Francisco and Beijing.
In this way, Satellogic will enhance the solutions it provides on a global scale aimed at optimizing decision making for a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, forestry, energy, finance and insurance, among others, at a very competitive value.
The cooperation between the two companies marks another milestone in the industry: it will be the first time that a rocket of the new generation Long March will provide launch services for international clients.CGWIC has successfully transported the first prototype (Cubesat), as well as five microsatellites of the company. According to the terms of a previous agreement, the Asian company will put into orbit another three devices in 2019, while the first launch of one of the LM-6 rockets under this agreement will raise to 19 the total number of commercial satellites in orbit of Satellogic.