Umbra agrees to provide Maxar direct access to SAR Constellation
by Jennifer Briggs
Space Coast FL (SPX) Feb 15, 2023

Maxar Technologies has signed a contract for dedicated access to Umbra' Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery constellation, the companies announced February 14.

SAR satellites are able to see past clouds, smoke, and complete darkness using the company's advanced resolution, licensed down to 13 centimeters.

"Maxar and Umbra are breaking new ground for the geospatial intelligence industry with this multisource offering. Though optical and SAR imagery are highly complementary, collection management across these sources has historically been siloed," said Dan Jablonsky, president and CEO of Maxar.

The Santa Barbara, CA-based company Umbra currently has five satellites in orbit, with another four already manifested for launch by the end of the year, Umbra said it plans to launch a total of 24 satellites.

Under the joint partnership, it will "represent the most advanced multisource geospatial intelligence solution for a wide range of government and commercial missions,"

Maxar will provide customers with access to high-resolution, commercially available earth observation data captured at all times of the day and regardless of weather conditions.

The partnership will allow Maxar to directly task Umbra's satellites and integrate (SAR) data into Maxar's Rapid Access Program (RAP) platform.

David Langan, Umbra's co-founder and CEO, said that they are "thrilled to partner with Maxar and integrate our industry-leading SAR data into their platform. Maxar is a world-renowned Earth Intelligence provider, so for Umbra to be chosen as their first ever SAR dedicated access partner is a huge vote of confidence both for Umbra and for the overall value that SAR data brings to customers,"

"This agreement will energize commercial SAR utilization world-wide and will support Umbra's ambitions of building and growing a robust commercial business case," said Gabe Dominocielo, Umbra's co-founder and president.

The combined optical-SAR products are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2023 and to be fully integrated by 2024.

Related Links
Umbra
Maxar Technologies
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application