Hyperspectral wave (11/1/22)

Good morning. Hope everyone had a great Halloween. As the guest on today’s Pathfinder told us when we asked if he had Halloween plans…“I think building satellites is scary enough for us.”

In today's newsletter:🔦 Wyvern raise 🎧 Pathfinder #0023🔁 On the move

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Exclusive: Wyvern Raises $7M

Wyvern has raised $7M in a seed plus round led by Uncork Capital, bringing the hyperspectral startup’s total financing to ~$15M to date. Previous investors MaC Venture Capital and Y Combinator also participated in this round. MaC led Wyvern’s seed round in Oct. 2021 and Wyvern recently graduated from YC’s W22 batch.

The Edmonton, Canada startup says that its first three satellites are fully funded and that capacity is dwindling on its first fleet that will go to orbit. The satellites are set to launch in early 2023.

An unfolding game-changer?

Wyvern is building high-res hyperspectral satellites with telescopes that will unfold from space upon reaching their orbital destination. The satellites use a new—and proprietary—type of deployable optic mechanism.

The unfolding design is something of a holy grail for Wyvern, helping the startup engineer a product that will tackle perennial form factor issues in hyperspectral imaging. The design will also help the startup deliver data to customers that it claims is an order of magnitude cheaper than satellites using traditional telescopes.

“With a healthy mix of private and public missions planned, there is no doubt [that] the hyperspectral wave is coming,” COO and cofounder Callie Lissinna told Payload. “Wyvern is not alone bringing this new category of space data to the market, but with our deployable optics technology we intend to offer the best in terms of resolution and cost.”

Wyvern’s first three space-bound satellites won’t unfold, however, and are meant to help the startup gain flight heritage and get satellite data into the hands of end users.

Wyvern’s sensors will image Earth and enable us to “see” in wavelengths that we weren’t able to observe before. The Wyvern team likens its technology to JWST, but for Earth. “We are scaling that game-changing technology down to CubeSat size, and will leverage it to uncover once-invisible insights about our planet instead of the distant universe,” Lissinna said.

Looking ahead to the early adopters

Wyvern’s FirstLight program offers potential customers preferential terms to its early product, as the first units of its constellation and accompanying software come online over the next year. Those who enroll in FirstLight will receive dedicated onboarding, white-glove customer service, and preferential pricing for their first year.

The company sees its key target markets as environmental monitoring, agriculture, energy, defense, mining, forestry, and greenhouse gas monitoring. “The spectral range, resolution, revisit rate, and price point for these first satellites are ideal” for many ag applications in particular, Lissinna said, adding that the startup is also fielding interest from the energy, mining, and forestry sectors.

What’s next?

While the exact launch date is “still dynamic…we have secured slots on vehicles slated to launch in the first half of 2023,” Lissinna said. The company will begin generating “satellite-driven revenue in 2023,” Lissinna said, “having already signed customer contracts pre-launch. “Once our satellites are up and operational, we know there are eager players and early adopters waiting to get their hands on this data from space for the first time.”

Pathfinder #0023, featuring Awais Ahmed

Today’s episode takes us to the bleeding edge of Earth observation, where one startup aims to bring what it claims is a step change in multispectral data to the commercial markets.

Our guest, Awais Ahmed, is the CEO and cofounder of Pixxel. The Indian-American startup, which is building a health monitor for Earth, has raised $32M+ to build a 36-satellite constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Spaced Ventures, which recently launched an effort to open an investment round into SpaceX. The space investment portal has received over $38M million in pledges from 2,200 investors.

A sneak peek into Pathfinder #0023

• What prompted Awais and cofounder/CTO Kshitij Khandelwal to start the company (hint: the origin story is a running theme in recent Pathfinder episodes)

• Comparisons between multispectral and hyperspectral data collection

• Capturing 200+ bands at five-meter resolution and a 24-hour revisit rate

• “It’s early days” for space commercialization in India, but the sector has a bright future

• The tech tailwinds powering the startup, along with its key initial use cases and market verticals

• The startup’s views on launch and how Pixxel selects rockets for its satellites’ trips to space

• We unpack Pixxel’s long-term vision for mapping the solar system

And there’s a whole lot more, from aliens to hyperloops to Awais’s voracious reading habits, but we’ll leave it to you to find those gems yourself.

Where to get Pathfinder #0023

🎥 Watch on YouTube🎧 Tune in on Spotify🍎 Listen on Apple

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In Other News

• Blue Origin completed the first delivery of its BE-4 flight engines to ULA.

• Arkisys launched its Embark program, which offers hosted payload services to SBIR/STTR awardees.

• Falcon Heavy is on the pad, fully assembled in Florida and set to launch in roughly a half hour. The Space Force flight will be “SpaceX’s longest-duration launch mission to date,” per SpaceflightNow.

• Mengtian docked with Tiangong’s Tianhe core module at 4:27pm Eastern yesterday. The Long March 5B that launched the laboratory is expected to make an uncontrolled reentry in the next week.

• SpaceLink “will be winding down operations,” VP of Marketing & Communications Wendy Newman told Payload, as its parent company, EOS, restructures. EOS was unable to raise external capital to continue supporting SpaceLink.

The View from Space