constellr, a European Earth Observation (EO) leader, announces the successful launch of its first satellite, Sky-Bee-1, pioneering its thermal infrared technology to monitor global land surface temperatures with unmatched precision, offering a completely new view of the planet. This milestone in the company’s planned High-precision Versatile Ecosphere (HiVE) satellite constellation unlocks transformative insights for sustainable resource management, transforming the way industry and governments tackle climate challenges.
Integrated via Exolaunch, Sky-Bee-1 launched successfully during the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX, entering a sun-synchronous orbit 510 km above the Earth. The satellite is expected to deliver its first images within a few weeks. The launch helps constellr service its private and public sector contracts across a range of industries including agriculture, infrastructure and urban development.
The satellite sets a new standard for thermal Earth imaging as it enables timely insights at single field- and building-level precision by capturing high-resolution thermal data at 30m spatial resolution sharpened to 10m and with temperatures accurate to 1-2 Kelvin. It is equipped with two multispectral payloads: an eleven-band visible-near infrared (VNIR) instrument and a four-band thermal infrared (TIR) camera, delivering continuous land surface temperature data for customers.
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constellr’s launch marks a milestone in the development of its real-time global thermal atlas – a digital twin of Earth that uses land surface temperature (LST) data to uncover the realities of our planet’s health. By measuring the central climate variable, temperature, at human-level granularity and at a cadence which allows timely insights with unprecedented accuracy, constellr provides the tools to optimise agriculture, manage water use, boost carbon sequestration and enhance urban resilience, empowering smarter climate and resource management where it matters most.
constellr’s launch represents the world’s first commercial mission to fully lever the performance of a cryocooled multispectral long-wave infrared instrument onboard a microsatellite platform, revolutionising agriculture and infrastructure monitoring. The satellite features an innovative 3D printed optical bench and its payload boasts a completely new design, developed in partnership with OHB System AG. Collaborating with other key partners, Kongsberg NanoAvionics, Fraunhofer EMI and Exolaunch, with funding from the German Space Agency at DLR via the European Space Agency’s InCubed programme managed by ESA Φ-lab, constellr is defining a new industry standard in thermal measurement by capturing refined temperature footprints of the Earth through precise pixel-level intelligence. constellr’s satellite captures temperature measurements directly, rather than relying upon inference, as with visual EO data, thus eliminating the gap between context interpretation and the provision of actual insights.
constellr aims to disrupt the traditional EO model by providing customers with a continuous stream of on-demand thermal data at pixel level, increasing customer convenience and reducing costs. This will democratise access to EO data via lower per-pixel costs, enabling temperature analytics for targeted locations while opening EO data to a global audience, scaling in a way no other EO company has been able to and empowering sectors like small-scale farming, environmental conservation, and disaster preparedness.
SOURCE: Businesswire