SkyFi Partners with Albedo
At SkyFi, we partner with Earth observation (EO) companies that already have assets on-orbit with the goal of making satellite imagery accessible to all. Each of our partners provide unique satellite imaging capabilities that will be accessible through the SkyFi app.
To date, our partners provide a network of 40+ satellites with a variety of imaging capabilities including high-resolution, hyperspectral, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), night imaging, stereo, and satellite video.
One satellite imagery technology we are excited to bring to the masses is the 10 centimeter visible imagery that will be accessible through our preferred partner, Albedo.
Meet our partner, Albedo
In the words of co-founder Topher Haddad, “Albedo designs and operates low-orbit satellites that capture both visible and thermal imagery at the highest resolution commercially available.”
Due to new regulations released by NOAA’s Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office in July 2020, Albedo now has the license needed to sell 10cm imagery – bringing a new level of transparency and visibility to the global commercial market. Now that Albedo has the necessary license to move forward with the 10cm imagery, the next step is completing system development to make the vision possible.
“Flying an imaging satellite at traditional LEO (low-Earth orbit) altitudes drives a school-bus sized space telescope to capture 10cm imagery, resulting in a business model that doesn't work for commercial markets. Albedo's proprietary VLEO architecture makes it possible to do this at a price point that will work for our customers," Albedo noted in an announcement to its community.
The company’s technology will not officially launch until 2024 but when it does, its capabilities promise to be far ahead of the current Earth observation industry. Albedo’s visible imagery will be 9x higher than what’s available today and its thermal imagery will be 1000x better than anything you can find on the commercial market.
Albedo’s 10 centimeter visible imagery
After its launch, Albedo will provide the highest spatial resolution available in the commercial industry with its 10cm visible imagery. Spatial resolution is a measurement of how detailed an object is in an image based on pixels. High-resolution means more detail and a smaller grid cell size, whereas lower spatial resolution (lo-res) means less detail and larger pixel size. Until Albedo announced its development of 10cm resolution capabilities, the finest resolution you could find in the commercial satellite industry was around 30cm.
When deciding what type of satellite imagery one may want to use, spatial resolution may be the most important factor. Many of the industries that use satellite data need the highest quality data possible to make real-time business decisions. The 10cm resolution image will be a valuable tool for many different industries as it gives users the capabilities to zoom in (from space) far enough to recognize a car model in the driveway, for example.
The 2 meter LWIR thermal imagery
Albedo may be generating buzz with its 10cm optical satellite imagery but that’s not the only thing the company has in the works. By taking advantage of the technologies used for ultrahigh resolution visible imagery, Albedo will also be able to deliver 2 meter thermal imagery with exceptional clarity.
Thermal imaging uses infrared radiation and thermal energy to collect information about objects with the purpose of formulating an image. Thermal imaging even works in low visibility environments, making it an effective tool for temperature measurements of components used in building inspections, industrial applications, fire applications, and more. Perhaps most exciting of all, Albedo’s 10cm visual and 2m thermal imagery can be overlaid, or “fused”, to maximize the benefits of both technologies in analyzing the image scene for a variety of applications.
The image below is a computer model of aerial image (via Albedo.com) used as an example to show the difference between aerial imagery and Albedo's visible-sharpened thermal imagery.
The image below is an example of how the Albedo combines a high-resolution thermal imagery with 10cm resolution visibility to generate visible-sharpened thermal imagery.
Albedo’s imagery capabilities will soon be accessible through the SkyFi App
The team at SkyFi, is excited to be partnering with Albedo to make the highest resolution imagery available to our consumers and prosumers. By harnessing Albedo’s EO technology, SkyFi will be able to provide our users with the tools needed to create an impact and solve problems in industries such as mapping, insurance, climate change, solar, agriculture, carbon offsets, and beyond. We could not be more excited to see where this partnership takes us!