Geospatial World: Commercial hyperspectral is entering the market with the first two low-cost satellite systems having already been deployed. The main challenge is the same as for optical multispectral or SAR constellations – to build cost-effective systems that can provide high-revisit data for building change detection analytics. More specifically for hyperspectral systems, the challenge lies in finding the sweet spot between spatial and spectral resolution, as well as the number of bands and the right spectrum bands to create new commercial applications.

Geospatial World: Traditional large satellites, as big as school buses and weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, typically cost hundreds of millions of dollars per piece and often take years to build and launch. Because of the massive investment required to build, launch and operate them, all these years, only governments and large corporations had the necessary deep pockets.