Hyperspectral satellites from space to help against climate crises
Indian startup (also based in Los Angeles) Pixxel will launch a constellation of six hyperspectral satellites into space in early 2024. Hyperspectral imagery could help combat a host of climate-related problems
From space, hyperspectral satellites serving the fight against climate change.
Awais Ahmed is convinced of this, the twenty-five-year-old co-founder and CEO of Pixxel, an Indian startup that builds satellites equipped with hyperspectral sensors. Once in space, hyperspectral satellites can collect data across a broader range of the electromagnetic spectrum than typical space sensors. After launching the first one into orbit last year, Pixxel is now working to build a network, or constellation, of high-resolution satellites to observe our planet from outside its atmosphere, Quartz reports.
As Techcrunch reported last June, the Los Angeles- and Bangalore-based startup has also landed a new strategic investor: Google, the tech giant known as much for its mapping products as its search engine.
Hyperspectral imaging uses a spectrometer to identify the spectral signature of objects. Taken from space, this type of imagery unlocks a huge level of knowledge about our planet, from detecting gas leaks to identifying specific types of minerals or plants.
Although NASA launched the first hyperspectral imaging satellite in 2000, it did not fully exploit its commercial purpose and was decommissioned in 2017, Quartz reminds us again.
Pixxel has been developing this technology since 2019 and last year put three demonstration satellites into orbit and is now focused on launching its next-generation Firefly constellation.
“Having this snapshot of the Earth will help politicians make better policies, governments act more quickly and create a database to see things globally,” says CEO Ahmed.
All the details.
THE INDIANA PIXXEL STRATEGY
“Just as every human has a unique fingerprint, every chemical or material has a unique spectral fingerprint,” Awais Ahmed tells Quartz . But traditional satellites can't always read that fingerprint. This is where an emerging class of highly sensitive satellites, powered by hyperspectral technology, comes into play, which in Ahmed's vision can be used to protect Earth's environment from space.
THE IMAGES RENDERED BY HYPERSPECTRAL SATELLITES
While a regular satellite image can pinpoint the underlying health of a given crop, hyperspectral imaging can see soil nutrient content, identify species and subspecies, capture chlorophyll and moisture levels, and pinpoint pest infestations before physical symptoms appear: all sophisticated data that can help prevent the spread of disease in agricultural fields, highlights Quartz .
Meanwhile, heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as methane, are invisible to multispectral satellites, but not to hyperspectral ones, which can spot leaks and emissions from afar. And as humans track mineral exploration, hyperspectral satellites can determine where lithium, uranium and other resources are present, as well as where they are not, saving areas from excavation.
WHAT PIXXEL DOES
In 2019, Awais Ahmed founded Pixxel with his friend (and now chief technology officer) Kshitij Khandelwal. Today the company has more than 170 employees.
Pixxel raised a pre-seed round of $700,000 from the college's alumni, with 90% going towards building a satellite. With hardware in hand, Pixxel raised $7.3 million in its first seed round. More capital followed, with a $27 million funding round, then a $36 million round led by Google.
COLLABORATION WITH THE USA NRO
The startup has sold data to numerous clients, including the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). It works with government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture in India, as well as climate monitors, to keep an eye on environmental violations.
BP AMONG CUSTOMERS
But Pixxel's client list also includes well-known polluters, such as oil and gas company British Petroleum and mining company Rio Tinto, Quartz reports. The latter use hypersensitive images to identify potential toxic leaks and supervise settling basins.
THE LAUNCH OF THE FIREFLY CONSTELLATION
Pixxel has built six commercial-grade hyperspectral satellites so far, which are currently in the testing phase. A trio of Firefly satellites will launch in early 2024 with SpaceX, and Pixxel plans to launch three more satellites shortly thereafter. The company plans to launch 18 more satellites by 2025.
But Ahmed's ultimate plan for Pixxel reaches far beyond our atmosphere, Quartz concludes. In another five to seven years, he sees the company working with space agencies “to map the rest of the solar system,” he says, “as if we were mapping the Earth.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/dallo-spazio-i-satelliti-iperspettrali-in-aiuto-contro-le-crisi-climatiche/ on Sat, 23 Dec 2023 06:37:00 +0000.