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LatConnect 60 and Gilmour Space
Engage in Partnership
5 April 2022
LatConnect 60 has signed an
agreement to work with Gilmour Space Technologies in
Queensland to build and launch microsatellites in a
planned high-resolution hyperspectral imaging
constellation. The satellites will be placed in
30-degree inclined orbits for frequent revisit data
capture over the Earth’s equatorial and mid-latitude
regions.
Executives from the Australian
companies announced the HyperSight 60 constellation
agreement jointly today at the 37th Space Symposium in
Colorado Springs, Colo., an annual meeting that brings
together space leaders from around the world.
“HyperSight 60 will deliver
geospatial insights for mid-latitude areas at a level of
detail and frequency not possible with other commercial
remote sensing systems,” said Venkat Pillay, LC60 CEO
and Founder. “The addition of Gilmour Space to the LC60
team contributes significantly to the future success of
our ambitious plans.”
Under the agreement, Gilmour Space
will develop the first 100-kilogram HyperSight 60
satellite on its G-class satellite bus (G-Sat), which
will be launched on Gilmour’s Eris rocket from the Bowen
Orbital Spaceport in Queensland, ideally located to
place satellites into equatorial and mid inclined
orbits. The microsatellite and subsequent constellation
will be owned and operated by LC60.
“This agreement would be our second
G-class satellite mission on Eris, and we’re excited to
be working with the pioneering team at LC60 to bring
this significant capability to market,” said Gilmour
Space CEO, Adam Gilmour.
The first HyperSight 60
microsatellite is planned for launch in Q4 2024. Once
the entire eight-satellite constellation is operational,
an hourly revisit rate will be possible at mid-latitude
locations between 30 degrees north and south in
Australia, Asia, South America, and Africa. This
revisit, combined with the spectral bands collected in
high- and medium-spatial resolution, will deliver timely
information-rich insights for Agriculture, Forestry,
Environmental, Mineral/Oil & Gas, Climate Change,
Maritime, and Defence applications.
Established in 2019, LC60 currently
owns exclusive rights to 80-centimeter imagery captured
over Australia, with global access from a
high-resolution multispectral satellite. The Perth-based
company has leveraged this imagery along with other
geospatial data sets to develop advanced artificial
intelligence and machine learning-based data fusion and
analysis algorithms for a variety of applications. Most
notably, LC60 is now delivering insights to assist
Southeast Asian palm and rubber plantations in improving
productivity while enhancing environmental
sustainability.
LC60 is also focused on designing
‘smart’ satellites equipped with onboard AI-based
computing technology. For the HyperSight 60
constellation, this will enable ‘tip-and-cue’
capabilities among satellites within the constellation
and allow pre-processing of data, including radiometric
and geometric correction, to occur in orbit before the
data is downlinked to the ground.
“For HyperSight 60 and other
planned LC60 constellations, our unique approach to
onboard AI sensors, combined with advanced data fusion
on the ground, will fill gaps in the insights that can
be gleaned from current remote sensing systems,” said
Pillay.
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