Defense contractor Raytheon is partnering with satellite imaging startups Array Labs and Umbra Space to develop advanced 3D Earth observation technologies for commercial and government markets.
On January 27, the companies announced that they would jointly offer a new product called Site3D. This product combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology and specialized mapping algorithms to create detailed 3D models of the Earth’s surface.
SAR technology, which can capture images regardless of weather conditions or time of day, is gaining commercial use as satellite companies seek to provide customers with continuous monitoring capabilities.
Umbra Space, based in Santa Barbara, currently uses SAR satellites to observe the Earth. Palo Alto startup Array Labs is developing clusters of small radar satellites designed to work in formation to capture multiple angles of a single location simultaneously. The goal is to create a high-resolution 3D map of the Earth.
Raytheon and Umbra “will help us educate customers, bring 3D data products to market faster, and launch our satellite image clusters,” said Array Labs CEO Andrew Peterson.
The partnership leverages Raytheon’s expertise in image processing.
“We’re bringing precise 3D processing algorithms developed over two decades of electro-optical imaging,” said Erich Hernandez-Baquero, vice president of Raytheon’s Space Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance business based in Arlington, Virginia.
According to Umbra, the collaboration is expected to expand market opportunities. Joe Morrison, the company’s vice president of remote sensing, said that Array and Raytheon “have transformed our data into a completely new product suitable for customers we would never have known existed, let alone reached without it.”