TerraWatch Space Podcast

Today, I am speaking with Grega Milčinski, CEO of Sinergise, a geospatial IT company based in Slovenia. Sinergise is most well-known for their flagship product, Sentinel Hub, which is a platform for accessing, processing and analysing Earth observation data.Grega has been around in the EO sector for a while now and has a ton of insight into the most important problems in EO revolving around making satellite data usable for all. In this episode, Grega and I talk about his company, about Sentinel Hub, the importance of solving the boring problems, about EO Browser, thoughts on some buzzwords in EO, the state of the sector and more.Sinergise WebsiteSentinel Hub WebsiteEO Browser Tool---01:06: Intro - Grega's Story02:56: Sinergise05:22: Sentinel Hub: What does it bring to the table?11:29: Solving boring problems in EO15:01: What is the biggest challenge in EO today - data accessibility, data management and data preprocessing?20:52: Will there be one horizontal platform in EO?23:15: Thoughts on a few buzzwords - analysis-ready data, edge computing, data fusion, data cubes, democratisation29:22: EO Browser: Why Sinergise built it and the vision34:27: Where should we invest $100M in EO, if given the chance?36:33: Descartes Labs and the state of EO38:14: Opening up EO data archives?39:52: Wrap-up

Today, I am speaking with Professor Paul Bates, Chairman and Co-founder of Fathom, a UK-based startup specialising in water risk intelligence.We have already had one episode on floods recently with Floodbase, a company that is working on creating near real-time flood maps, but in this episode with Paul, we discuss how flood risk is measured and modelled, how this data is used to anticipate flood hazards and the role of satellite data in all of this.In this episode, Paul and I talk about Fathom and their products, the state of flood modelling today and the role of satellite data, why the quality of data is more important than anything else for this use case, some findings from Fathom's research and more.Fathom's WebsiteProf. Paul BatesFABDEM (Forest And Buildings removed Copernicus DEM)Research: UK Future Flood MapResearch: Inequality in FloodingResearch: Need for More Investment in Climate Models---01:06: Intro02:32: Fathom - Overview07:21: How is flood risk modeling done today? What is the status today?15:02: The value of satellite data in flood risk modelling and the importance of higher quality observations20:37: Fathom's product portfolio23:02: Importance of collaborating with research community and whether that is the new norm in the industry28:07: Some findings from Fathom's research: "UK Future Flood Map", "Inequality in Flooding" and "Need for More Investment in Climate Models"38:46: State of EO, whether we need more satellite data and Paul's association with the NASA SWOT mission43:41: What can we do to be optimistic about the state of climate?

Today, I am speaking with Sean Mitchell, Chairman & Chief Commercial Officer at Ubotica, an AI-driven edge computing startup from Ireland.Edge computing is a technology that has started to create a lot of buzz in the Earth observation sector. Enabling some processing of satellite data on-board the satellite before downlinking seems efficient, but the execution may not be straightforward. Ubotica is a startup focused on solving that with their edge computing platform solution, which they have already flown in space.In this episode, Sean and I talk about what edge computing means, what it brings to the table, what is possible today, applications for Earth observation, Ubotica's technology and journey and more. Ubotica websiteUbotica's latest edge computing innovationESA Phi-Sat[Thanks to Ubotica for sponsoring this episode]---01:08: Intro02:52: Overview of Ubotica05:24: What is edge computing and where are we today in terms of its capabilities?13:00: Applications of edge computing19:01: Ubotica's offering and go-to-market strategy25:52: ESA's Phi-Sat mission33:55: Are larger satellites more suited for edge computing?37:28: Applications of edge computing beyond EO - in space exploration and space situational awareness42:07: Limiting factors for adoption of edge computing and how not to oversell48:32: Entry of big tech and their role in edge computing for EO49:49: Wrap-up

Today, I am speaking with Brad Bode, CTO & CIO at ATLAS Space Operations, which is a ground software as a service company. Ground segment is an area of the space industry which really doesn't get a lot attention, despite the fact that it is the bridge between data acquired in space and data collected on Earth. So, I had Brad on the podcast to discuss the state of ground segment and the impact on EO sector.In this episode, Brad and I talk about what ATLAS Space Operations does, why ground segment is so underappreciated, how EO companies work with ground segment, the difference between ground station as a service and ground software as a service, the entry of Microsoft and AWS into this space and what it means and more.ATLAS Space Operations - WebsiteBrad Bode - LinkedIn[Thanks to ATLAS Space Operations for sponsoring this episode]---01:08: Intro06:19: Overview of ATLAS Space Operations14:54: What does the status quo for ground segment in EO look like?22:44: Why is the ground segment appreciated?25:48: Ground station as a service vs ground software as a service33:12: What does the entry of Microsoft and AWS mean for the ground segment?38:10: What does EO companies look for from the ground segment? Latency, and what else?43:07: One thing people will be shocked to learn about the state of the ground segment

Today, I have two guests Bessie Schwarz, co-founder & CEO and Subit Chakrabarti, VP of Technology at Floodbase.Floodbase, which used to be called Cloud to Street, before their rebrand recently, is a climate-tech startup using satellite imagery to build flood data products for use by the insurance sector. In this episode, Bessie, Subit and I discuss what Floodbase does, their tech stack, what types of satellite data they use, why they publish their methodologies and collaborate with the academic community, how EO has evolved over the years and more.Floodbase websiteFloodbase open datasetPublication in Nature---01:00: Intros04:39: Floodbase - Overview08:59: Floodbase products13:51: Tech stack and what types of satellite data Floodbase uses17:40: Publishing the methodologies and datasets and working with the academic community19:48: Secret sauce behind mapping floods in near real-time25:01: Challenges using satellite imagery and wishlist36:02: Backward integration in the insurance industry40:52: Advise for starting a company today 45:51: Floodbase is hiring!

Today, I am sharing an insightful discussion I had with Elly Perets, CEO of Asterra. Asterra is a startup headquartered in Israel, that offers a platform for monitoring all kinds of infrastructure, whether it is for monitoring roads, rails, dams, water utilities or even for mining - based on synthetic aperture radar (or SAR) data.SAR, as some of you know, is pretty hard to process, but Asterra has managed to not only develop a scalable product that derives insights from SAR data but also managed to transform them into performance metrics that can be easily understood by the asset operators. I wanted to learn more about how they managed to do that.In this episode, Elly and I discuss the interesting origin story of Asterra, their product portfolio, the challenges of using SAR, how they managed to transform complex SAR data into actionable information, why adoption of EO in the infrastructure sectors is inevitable, and more.ShownotesElly's LinkedInAsterra's WebsiteLocating Lithium with Asterra's Technology[Thanks to Asterra for sponsoring this episode]---01:15: Elly's background and how we got involved with Asterra03:22: Overview of Asterra 08:45: Founding story - Spin-off of a Mars project12:39: Product portfolio and use cases17:22: Tech stack and how Asterra uses SAR19:11: Transforming SAR technology into a commercialy scalable product27:15: Challenges in the EO market in transforming science into value30:57: About EO Discover Platform to provide environmental metrics38:23: Distribution model and importance of integrating into other software40:31: State of EO and the need for more SAR data47:08: Why adoption of EO for infrastructure monitoring is inevitable 50:19: Wrap-up

We have got an interesting episode today, I know I say that for most episodes, but this one is actually quite interesting because we are talking about a strategy that not many companies have pursued in Earth observation - starting as a product company and offering solutions based on EO data, then deciding to go up the value chain and launch proprietary satellites. We have got only a handful of companies who decided to go with this approach and SatSure, a startup from India, is one of them. SatSure, based in Bengaluru, develops EO-based products for Agriculture, Banking, financial services and insurance and the Infrastructure sectors. I have already had SatSure's CEO Prateep on the podcast (episode #32), but in this episode, I wanted to dive deep into how and why they decided to launch their own high-resolution, multispectral satellites with on-board processing capabilities.Today, I am speaking with Karthik, General Manager of SatSure and Akash, CTO of KaleidEO, which is a subsidiary of SatSure focused on building payloads. We talk about why SatSure decided to launch its own satellites, the state of pricing of satellite imagery and whether the evolution is suitable for the developing world, on-board processing and what that brings, how all of this relates to the company's existing product portfolio and more.[Thanks to SatSure for sponsoring this episode]---ShownotesSatSure WebsiteKaleidEORecent investment announcement-----Timestamps01:37: Intros04:53: SatSure: Overview07:21: Why did SatSure decide to launch their own EO satellites16:43: Evolution of the price of satellite imagery and whether it is suitable for the developing world20:47: Making the decision on sensors, resolution and other technological configuration27:51: On-board processing and why it is relevant37:22: Do most downstream companies need to launch their own EO satellites?44:03: Wrap-up questions and what's coming up for SatSure50:37: Recent announcement of investment from three major banks52:17: A question for me

This week, I am sharing an episode from the New Space India podcast where I was invited to talk about all things Earth observation, particularly focusing on India. The New Space India podcast is hosted by Narayan Prasad, the co-founder and COO of satsearch and is the go-to podcast to learn about space tech in India. I thought I will share this episode here as we covered a lot of interesting topics that might be interesting for you. In this episode, Narayan and I discuss the state of EO in India, differences in EO adoption vs the west, the need for vertical-specific EO innovation hubs and more.Hope you enjoy this conversation!Original Podcast Feed: https://share.transistor.fm/s/30d8b965---

Jed is the Executive Director of the Radiant Earth Foundation and used be the Open Data Lead at Amazon Web Services. Jed is an influential thinker in the Earth observation space and he has been part of a number of important milestones in this sector.I wanted to have Jed on the podcast to talk about his thoughts on the future of Earth observation, especially following one of the blog posts he had written last year. I recommend you check it out (linked below).In this episode, Jed and I discuss what the Radiant Earth Foundation does, his experience at AWS, the importance of building data products in EO, analysis-ready data and what that means, Jed's thesis on the future of EO with the three things we need, the future of open source in EO and more.Jed's blog post: https://medium.com/radiant-earth-insights/democratizing-open-machine-learning-technologies-for-earth-observation-cf3fd9f0a432Jed's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jedsundwallRadiant Earth Foundation: https://www.radiant.earth/ML Hub for EO (from Radiant): https://mlhub.earth/---01:09: Jed's background03:11: Overview of Radiant Earth Foundation08:54: Jed's role at AWS and EO milestones15:24: Thoughts on the state of EO20:18: Building data products in EO23:35: Analysis ready data and what that means29:33: Jed's thesis on the future of EO: New data products, new leaders and new institutions35:15: A multidisciplinary approach to building data products39:45: What new institutions for the future of EO?42:33: The importance of browser-based interfaces45:41: The future of open-source in EO and cooperative utilities50:03: Wrap-up questions---

Today I am speaking with with Bill Perkins, Founder of SkyFi and Luke Fischer, CEO of SkyFi.SkyFi, which just recently went live with their product, aims to democratise satellite imagery and make it affordable, accessible and usable for everyone. I recommend checking out their app, which looks pretty cool.In this episode, we talk about the founding story of SkyFi and their vision, the importance of making satellite imagery accessible to 'the hive mind', differences in how the B2C and the B2B segments will use Earth observation, the verticals SkyFi is targeting, the state of EO and more.Check out the SkyFi app: https://bit.ly/TWSxSkyFiBill Perkins: https://twitter.com/bp22Luke Fischer: https://twitter.com/FischerLukeM[Thanks to SkyFi for sponsoring this episode]---01:01: Intros03:02: SkyFi overview 05:09: Founding story and why it took a hedge fund trader to create it14:21: Why a mobile app to access satellite imagery?17:46: Thoughts on targeting both the B2C and B2B segments22:42: Types of satellite data on the platform29:34: Convincing the satellite data providers33:15: The future of distribution of EO data and analytics 38:08: Educating the masses about EO40:46: Thoughts on competition44:34: Outlook for SkyFi49:14: State of EO and how it influences SkyFi54:56: Worries about the state of the industry57:04: Wrap-up---