“This is our first step off the Space Station, and an exciting growth opportunity that will help to accelerate our UrtheCast Constellation plans, while populating our platform with powerful content,” explained Scott Larson, UrtheCast Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “By acquiring the entire Deimos satellite operations, two satellites and two ground stations, we’ve created another substantial revenue stream for the Company, and have improved our imagery archive with 6.5 billion square kilometers of Deimos imagery data.”
UrtheCast Corp. acquired in July Deimos Imaging from Elecnor, S.A. for an aggregate price of €76.4 million. In addition to ownership and operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, UrtheCast has acquired satellite operations related to the collection, storage, processing, analysis, distribution, and licensing of imagery captured by these and other satellites. In conjunction with the acquisition, UrtheCast has entered into a Mutual Cooperation Agreement with Deimos Space, S.L.U. This agreement contemplates the participation of Elecnor Deimos as a strategic implementation partner for UrtheCast’s planned 16-satellite constellation consisting of both optical and SAR instruments. Elecnor Deimos will join the other strategic partners expected to be involved in UrtheCast’s constellation, which includes various Canadian companies expected to build elements of the SAR payload, as well as Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (UK) for the spacecraft platforms and optical payload.
“We’re delighted to welcome 50 additional employees from the Deimos Imaging team, a highly experienced group with deep roots in the Earth Observation industry,” explained UrtheCast President and Chief Operating Officer, Wade Larson. “In combination with Deimos Imaging’ robust customer base, our business development program is poised for further growth this year. Deimos Imaging has an established customer base in Europe and Latin America, including the European Space Agency, as well as commercial customers in the agricultural, forestry, and land use industries.“
Fabrizio Pirondini, Deimos Imaging co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, added: “These are exciting times for the Deimos Imaging team. By joining UrtheCast, our team is ready to contribute to the shared vision of disrupting the Earth Observation industry.”
Fig. 1: UrtheCast’s cameras imaging the Earth from the International Space Station (ISS).
Fig. 2: The Empire State building (upper left) and United Nation building (bottom left) in Manhattan, New York (USA). Deimos-2 75cm pansharpened image acquired on August 2014.
Fig.3 Tidal sand formation in Moreton Bay, Brisbane (Australia) captured by Theia, UrtheCast’s 5-meter resolution camera onboard the International Space Station, on April 2015.