A Growing Reliance on Space Data and Analytics Drives Better Decision Making on Earth

Satellite data enables critical Earth intelligence, from showing the pace of deforestation over 10 years, or forecasting a potential disruption to the titanium supply chain. But given the mind boggling amount of raw data streaming down from multiple orbits, the need for sophisticated technologies to process and analyze imagery, and delivery actionable insights, has never been greater: a October 2021 Euroconsult report noted that the EO data and services market is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2030.

So how should satcoms and their partners address these needs, and for what purposes?

These questions and others — namely how the industry can leverage Earth observation (EO) satellites at the right time — were a focal point of SATELLITE 2022’s Monday morning panel, “Geo-Intelligence Workshop: How Space Data Influences Decision Making on Earth.”

Panelist Dr. James Crawford, founder, chairman and CTO of Orbital Insight, said his company has come a long way from the days of relying on the human eye alone.

“Seven years ago, we counted cars at every Walmart parking lot,” said Crawford. “Our platform allows us to pull together all that data and answer questions about the world. There is so much data out there, and the pace of change in the world is only increasing.”

Panelist Ryan McKinney, vice president and general manager of Satellogic, noted that the 2010 vision of launching in geographic one area, like South America, has expanded significantly.

“You’re not making a big business decision with one source of data,” he said. “How do we lean forward, where do we go from here?”

Much of the discussion between moderator Jeff Matthews, specialist leader, Deloitte, centered on emerging use cases for EO satellite insights, in commercial, as well as military application.

“It’s not about looking at an image. We want real actionable insight as to what we’re doing and we want it in a timely manner” said Matthews. “The companies up here this morning are doing fantastic things to get those actionable insights to us.”

Col. Shane Taylor, project manager for Tactical Network for the U.S. Army, noted that the Army’s strategy has transitioned from a “monolithic lead-integration” approach to a more collaborative approach involving multiple data-integration strategies, to ultimately inform everything from soldier health to equipment supplies in multiple locations.

“As new capabilities would come out, commercial solutions, we would leverage those in coordination with other systems,” said Taylor. “This has allowed us to pivot a long, drawn-out process in the past and allowed us to leverage those solutions.”

Nicole Robinson, president of Ursa Space Systems, spoke about the potential to layer multiple sources and streams of data to derive more granular, high-precision insights.

“The supply chain is absolutely key but if we’re able to layer the data, it’s a one plus one equals three dynamic,” she said, offering the example of using a layered approach to derive intelligence from thousands of barrels of crude oil. This can help predict demand and determine resource allocations.

Crawford also echoed other panelists’ sentiments regarding the importance of satellite data to in improving global supply chain management.

“As we look at obvious things like COVID, there’s huge impacts on the supply chain,” said Crawford. “For a while you couldn’t get toilet paper. Being able to understand every step of your supply chain is [essential]. In the case of Ukraine, there’s a huge impact on titanium … With satellite imagery, we can see, what is happening with titanium mines? Or what is the impact on oil refineries since [nations] get Russian crude [oil]?”

Crawford noted that satellite imagery can help to monitor global warming and hold nations accountable for compliance with treaties “A forest is really big, and satellites are going to be an honest broker,” he said. “It’s very hard to fool a satellite.”

Matthews also took a few moments to ask panelists their thoughts about the future of edge computing, or bringing computer and data storage closer to the sources of data to improve response times and save bandwidth.

McKinney suggested the answer depends on how partners define what edge means, and how the cost of edge computing in space will be shared by partners.

“What we’re seeing from some of our partners taking advantage of this capability, it is being able to do some of the analysis on the satellite before sending [the data] down,” said McKinney. “What does that do from a latency perspective? There’s value in doing that kind of computing in space. I think that will continue to evolve… as things get smaller and faster and more robust the capabilities that will be able to be produced in space and the products that will come from that will continue to evolve.”

Panelists agreed that the satellite industry could do more to work together, to ensure that every end user — and not just data scientists — have information that they can use when they need it, whether that’s a physician at the point of care, or a war fighter in battle.

“Having predictive indicators that there are tanks in a certain area, or threats in a certain area …that’s enabling,” said Robinson. “Speed is everything. Having access at the individual service level is huge. We’re seeing a trend in that direction.”