Spiral Blue to process imagery in space for transmission to Earth

AI and edge computing enabled Earth observation services company Spiral Blue, has been awarded $578,000 commercialisation funding in a co-investment from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.

The grant in collaboration with Esper Satellite Imagery, UNSW Sydney, Saber Astronautics and Dandelions will progress Project Rainbow Python.

In this project Esper’s hyperspectral imagers OTR-1 and OTR-2 will be launched in two separately hosted payload missions to capture satellite imagery.

Spiral Blue’s Space Edge 1 Hyperspectral (SE-1H) flying alongside the OTR imagers will process images onboard the satellite to minimise cost, time and complexity of receiving the data analytics produced during the programme.

Spiral Blue CEO Taofiq Huq said: “Sovereign manufacturing of space hardware is key to Australia achieving the ambitious goals set by our Space Agency.

“This grant accelerates our roadmap for bringing Rainbow Python and associated technologies to maturity, helping ensure we are able to do our part for the Australian space industry and other Australian sectors which benefit from accessible hyperspectral data on space services, such as agriculture, mining, financial services, utilities, and environmental monitoring.”

Th grant brings a total commitment of $2.97 million to fund the project.

AMGC’s Commercialisation Fund aims to support projects from local manufacturers to commercialise world-leading innovation in a variety of industries, from the medical field to security and sustainability.

Project partner Dandelions will also develop and test new materials onboard the missions and assisting Spiral Blue and Esper with simulations expertise.

Academic partner UNSW Sydney will provide testing facilities and access to space systems engineering expertise.

Meanwhile Saber Astronautics will provide missions operations and pre-launch engineering support.

These launches will be hosted with Space Machines Company, another Australian startup that develops in-space logistic capabilities including launching missions, and Modularity Space, which provides low-cost, reusable satellite systems for the evolving space industry.

Spiral Blue was recently a recipient of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grant, supporting the development of Spiral Blue’s Space Edge Services platform.

Picture: Spiral Blue

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