Umbra

I ran into a whole bunch of my fav space people over the past few weeks, and you all let me know how much I've been denying you all what you really want for the holidays: more mystery #SAR cities in amazingly crispy detail. So here it is - a little holiday treat from Umbra for you. Guess away, earth enjoyers. Remember, this is oriented shadows down (not north up), but use the compass to help wrap your neural processors around this one.

There is a dire situation unfolding in Darfur due to civil war - displaced civilians are dying of starvation in droves, and the only clue we have to the extent of the travesty are the growing mass graves visible in satellite imagery. Out today from Reuters: https://lnkd.in/giiY43E6 And the follow up explanation of how they used Umbra, Airbus, Maxar Technologies, Planet, Google Earth, and SkyFi to analyze both optical and SAR data is phenomenal: https://lnkd.in/ghuSUYYq I’m very proud Umbra was a small part of supporting this story and we are excited to support a lot more journalism like this moving forward. In particular I’m proud of my colleague Jon Galpern who tirelessly supports our press network and was instrumental in supporting the Reuters team that put this story together.

Today, we announced two new tasking contracts totaling $35M with government customers in the Asia-Pacific region. These Direct Access Program (DAP) deals represent two “firsts:” 📡 The first purchase of direct access to 30 cm class WorldView Legion imagery 🛰️ The first use of Maxar’s virtual constellation capability in the APAC region to directly task ultra high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from Maxar partner Umbra. These deals reflect the growing demand for Maxar’s secure geospatial insights capabilities among U.S. partners around the world. 🗣️ As Anders Linder, GM of our International Government business, said: “Combining our WorldView Legion capacity with the option to directly task SAR imagery through us enables our customers to collect ground truth insights 24/7, giving them the transparency they need, when they need it.” Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gwwJ438r 📷 These two images showcase the power of Maxar’s virtual constellation. The Umbra synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image on the right shows a submarine underneath netting at a dry dock in Sinpo, North Korea. The netting is clearly visible in the very high-resolution WorldView Legion satellite image on the left.

I had the privilege to sit on a panel with some of the industry’s best and brightest. Not sure how I snuck past security. Here’s what I said: - We all need to be thinking about urgency and purpose. We are in a golden period where technology and capital have hit a point of maximum coincidence. It may or may not last forever, so we need to be saying yes to the right mission capabilities and no to the wrong ones earnestly. There is no time to delay. - Services or systems? The USG and its allies need to come to terms with the reality of a commercial supply of mission relevant services and data. If exploiting existing data services is not palatable, then make that decision so we can move on to a system sales model. There is no time to delay. - Satiated or starving? Does the warfighter have what they need or are they struggling to perform their mission at peak levels? Is there or is there not unmet need, and how much? There is no time to delay. - Satisfied or skeptical? We need feedback, now, on what we’re building. We will invest to meet the warfighters’ needs, but guessing only gets us so far. - Inventory systems for CASR and other tactically responsive needs. It’s never been more affordable. - Practice like you play, or better yet, let’s just get in the game. Create robust programs for procuring commercial space services that serve all DoD/IC needs. There is no time to delay. Jason Kim Fred T. Bradley Cheetham Lee Rosen PC: Tracy Morgan

Best chips in the business from Umbra. Spotted in the wild at Spacepower 😎

Umbra is thrilled to announce that we’ll be at Space Force Association's SpacePower 2024 in sunny Orlando, Florida! Visit us at Booth 302 for an exclusive tasking demonstration and to chat with our team about the latest in satellite and SAR remote sensing technology. Plus, don’t miss out on some awesome Umbra swag! We can’t wait to connect with you— see you there! #SpacePower2024

Umbra is thrilled to announce that we’ll be at Space Force Association's SpacePower 2024 in sunny Orlando, Florida! Visit us at Booth 302 for an exclusive tasking demonstration and to chat with our team about the latest in satellite and SAR remote sensing technology. Plus, don’t miss out on some awesome Umbra swag! We can’t wait to connect with you—see you there! #SpacePower2024

Umbra has been awarded the Stage III option of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Commercial Radar Capabilities contract. Stage III emphasizes scaling SAR data delivery to the U.S. Government to meet critical needs such as disaster response, environmental monitoring, and crisis management. https://lnkd.in/gutkBkTb

If the United States does the right thing and relaxes export laws on SAR satellites to the already commercially approved limit of 1,200MHz, I am confident it will be a "before/after" moment for the commercial SAR industry, the second this decade after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. If, however, they do not...then we will cede the next chapter of this industry to Europe in accordance with the last 30 years of commercial SAR. As my colleague Todd Master put it in today's Payload story, "“I believe that if these regulations remain in place, we will actively lose out on deals [...] The default is to go to the Europeans because they don’t have export restrictions.” As the regulatory environment stands today, this very morning you (yes, you!) can buy a 25cm image like the one below with a credit card through SkyFi, and have it delivered by this afternoon. But if you aren't a US person, and I sell you an exact copy of the satellite that produced this image, you will need around 18 months to find a launch to manifest it on, a 15+ person team to handle command and control, a ground network and software to downlink and process the data, and a reserve fund to bail me out of jail while I await trial for violating ITAR regulations before you ever snap your first image.

Reykjavík, Capital Region, Iceland Resolution: 35cm | Number of Looks: 5 Collect Date: November 16th, 2024