Pixxel, a space-technology startup, today announced that it successfully launched its first fully-fledged commercial satellite Shakuntala (Technology Demonstrator-2) with the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket on April 1.
Being Pixxel’s first fully-fledged satellite, Shakuntala hosts one of the highest resolution hyperspectral commercial cameras ever flown to space, bringing it one step closer to building a 24x7 health monitor for the planet, according to a press statement.
Weighing less than 15 kgs, Shakuntala (TD-2) is capable of capturing orbital images in more than 150 bands of color from the visible and infrared spectrum with a resolution of 10-meters per pixel — far exceeding the specificity of 30-meter per pixel hyperspectral satellites launched by a few select organizations such NASA, ESA, and ISRO.
Commenting on the launch, Awais Ahmed, CEO, Pixxel said, “The vision that we had, to bring the benefits of space down to earth and to make our planet into a more vibrant and sustainable place in the process, remains steadfast even today. Launching Shakuntala is the first step toward making space exploration easier, and accomplishing our goal of creating a constellation capable of providing global coverage every day.”
This launch also comes at the heels of Pixxel’s $25 million Series A funding from Radical Ventures, Seraphim Space Capital, Relativity Space co-founder Jordan Noone, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, and Sparta LLC among others. Their strategic backing joins the over 50 customers who have signed pre-launch agreements with us from industries spanning across agriculture, oil and gas, mining, and climate sectors, the statement said.
This launch sets the stage for Pixxel’s first commercial phase satellites to be launched in early 2023 and the commercial sale of our data. With 6 satellites flown in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) around a 550 km altitude, Pixxel’s hyperspectral constellation will be able to cover any point on the globe every 48 hours, it said.
The data from this constellation will provide users with a global scale perspective of planetary-scale ecosystems and biospheres that will be used to create an AI-informed analysis platform, creating a digital twin of the earth in the process. This will be a critical tool in providing invaluable policy recommendations and actionable insights for climate-conscious governments and organizations.
