The best earth observation space startups
33 earth observation companies in the directory, ranked by disclosed funding ($733.1M raised between them), spanning 12 countries.
Satellites that watch the planet: optical, thermal, hyperspectral and radar. Earth observation has quietly become one of the most commercially proven corners of the space economy, selling data to agriculture, insurance, energy and defense.
Updated 8 October 2026 · 36 milestones in the last 90 days · Follow by RSS
State of the sector
As of 27 September 2026
Earth observation is the directory's second-biggest sector, and none of its companies has shut down. They differ mostly in what their satellites sense. Planet and Chang Guang Satellite run large optical constellations. Iceye, Capella Space, Synspective and iQPS fly radar, which sees through cloud and darkness. GHGSat and AIRMO measure methane, SatVu and Hydrosat measure heat, and Pixxel and Kuva Space build hyperspectral satellites.
Muon Space put its first three FireSat wildfire satellites in orbit in July 2026 and won a NOAA contract for a microwave sounder the next month. SatVu's HotSat-2 entered commercial service in June 2026, and Hawkeye 360 listed on the New York Stock Exchange in May. Albedo stopped selling imagery in October 2025 to sell its very low orbit satellite bus instead, and in January 2026 it reported Clarity-1 lost after nine months in orbit.
Four companies here were bought, among them Capella Space, which went to the quantum-computing company IonQ in 2025. HEO Robotics points its cameras at other spacecraft rather than the ground. In September 2026 it photographed a spent Long March 2C rocket stage from about 40 km away, at 8 cm per pixel.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
AIRMO: Agrees to support Kazakhstan’s Ghalam in developing an engineering qualification model of a methane-detection payload
Iceye: Starts a partnership with California’s Office of Emergency Services for ongoing flood and wildfire monitoring
Array Labs: Wins a $4.47M Army Research Laboratory contract to develop distributed radar satellite clusters for 3D imaging
GHGSat: Two more methane-monitoring satellites launch on SpaceX's Transporter-18Iceye: Four more radar imaging satellites launch on SpaceX's Transporter-18Iceye: Partners with Nokia to develop sovereign broadband LEO satellite communications systems for governments
Planet: Launches its second Tanager satellite and the first prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher on SpaceX's Transporter-18
SatVu: HotSat-3 launches on SpaceX Transporter-18, set to join HotSat-2 after commissioning
Spire: Launches the first three satellites built at its Boulder, Colorado factory on SpaceX Transporter-18
Synspective: Signs a 20-launch Electron deal with Rocket Lab, Rocket Lab's largest commercial Electron contractShow 40 earlier milestones
Hydrosat: Is selected for NOAA’s ten-year Space-Based Environmental Monitoring IDIQ, an $8B shared-ceiling vehicleSpire: Wins a $33.2M NOAA task order for radio occultation weather data, worth about $66M with optionsGHGSat: Unveils its second-generation satellite, which will detect methane emissions down to 50 kg/hr and is planned to reach orbit in early 2028
HEO Robotics: Raises a US$25M Series B led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners to extend its imaging network into GEOHydrosat: Adds $10M from Suma Capital as an extension of its Series BIceye: Leads the ARISE consortium, which ESA selects to design the architecture of the EU Earth Observation Governmental ServiceSatVu: Books launches for HotSat-4 and HotSat-5 with RIDE!Hydrosat: Unveils Osiris, its next-generation thermal-infrared constellation with 25 m resolution and wide swaths
Muon Space: Releases first light and first active-fire images from the first three operational FireSat satellites
iQPS: Signs a rideshare launch contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to fly three QPS-SAR satellites on an H3 rocketMuon Space: Fires a zinc-fuelled Hall-effect thruster in space for the first time, on its SERT-III test spacecraft
Pixxel: Raises a $100M Series C led by Temasek and Seraphim to fund the Honeybee constellation and satellite production in India and the USHEO Robotics: Continuum-1, a satellite bought from Satellogic, holds station near a spent Long March 2C stage and images it from about 40 km at 8 cm per pixel, HEO's first rendezvous and proximity operation
Orbital Lasers: Invests in LogistLab, a maker of large precision mirrors, and partners with it on spaceborne telescope production
Diffraqtion: Adds more than $5M to the pre-seed from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures and others, taking the total past $10M, to fly a hosted payloadMuon Space: Wins an $11M NOAA TMATE award to build, launch and operate a microwave sounder within 24 monthsSpire: Wins a $28M NOAA contract under TMATE to build and qualify a hyperspectral microwave sounder satelliteHydrosat: Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its thermal-infrared satellites, pairing Space Force money with matched private capitalMuon Space: Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its satellite constellations, pairing Space Force money with matched private capitalArray Labs: The Office of Naval Research extends its contract to study space-based airborne moving target indication (AMTI)Muon Space: Raises a $250M Series C led by Eclipse to scale its satellite production; Google, Salesforce Ventures and Woven Capital are among the new investors
GalaxEye: Acquires StarOps, a Bengaluru maker of satellite buses
Capella Space: Wins a National Reconnaissance Office contract for commercial radar data, alongside ICEYE U.S. and UmbraIceye: Wins, through ICEYE U.S., a National Reconnaissance Office contract for commercial radar data alongside Capella and UmbraArray Labs: Raises $21M in a strategic round anchored by Mitsubishi Electric, and partners with it on satellite-based airborne tracking
Axelspace: All seven next-generation GRUS-3 satellites reach orbit on Transporter-17 and make contactMuon Space: First three operational FireSat satellites reach orbit
Kuva Space: Selected for NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition on-ramp
Chang Guang Satellite: Raises about 5B yuan led by state funds and restarts its IPO, having launched 161 Jilin-1 satellites across 30 launchesSatVu: HotSat-2 enters commercial service
SatSure: Wins a ₹24.6 crore grant from IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund to build Dhaarini, AI models for Indian Earth observation dataIceye: Raises €450M in a Series F led by General Atlantic at a valuation above €10BiQPS: An Electron launch carrying its Mikura-I satellite aborts at ignition; the satellite flies that August
PierSight: Launches Vidura, a drone-mounted radar that sees through foliage, for ground defence operationsPixxel: Wins a National Reconnaissance Office contract to show what commercial hyperspectral imagery can do for US analystsCapella Space: Launches a commercial InSAR ground-movement monitoring product, sold by parent IonQGalaxEye: Drishti, its first satellite and the largest Earth observation satellite built by a private Indian company, launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9
Hawkeye 360: Lists on the NYSE as HAWK, raising $416MSatVu: HotSat-2 returns first light imagery of three energy sitesSpire: Opens a Munich factory it says can build up to 100 satellites a yearNew in earth observation
SatSure Satellite data analytics for banks and farms
GalaxEye Radar and optical imaging on one satellite
PierSight Radar satellites for tracking ships
Diffraqtion Quantum cameras for satellites
Chang Guang Satellite The world's biggest sub-meter constellation
Spacety Small radar satellites at high cadence
All 33 earth observation companies
Ranked by disclosed funding.
Pixxel Hyperspectral imaging satellites
Planet GraduatedImaging services
Spire GraduatedSpace to cloud analytics
GHGSat Monitoring greenhouse gases
Capella Space AcquiredGathering information from space
SatSure Satellite data analytics for banks and farms
GalaxEye Radar and optical imaging on one satellite
FluroSat AcquiredCrop monitoring and analytics
PierSight Radar satellites for tracking ships
Earthcube AcquiredMonitoring solutions powered by automation
Sensar AcquiredSatellite monitoring for infrastructure
AIRMO Methane monitoring from orbit
Albedo Satellites for very low Earth orbit
Array Labs 3D radar maps of the whole planet
Axelspace GraduatedOptical microsatellites
Chang Guang Satellite The world's biggest sub-meter constellation
ConstellR Surface temperature monitoring
Diffraqtion Quantum cameras for satellites
Hawkeye 360 GraduatedGlobal intelligence network
HEO Robotics Space object inspection
Hydrosat Plant health monitored by satellites
Iceye Timely and reliable satellite imagery
iQPS GraduatedAll-weather SAR imagery
Kuva Space Hyperspectral Earth observation
Muon Space Constellations as a service
Orbital Lasers Lasers for debris removal
Picterra Artificial intelligence for Earth imaging
RoGo Fire Fighting wildfires with intelligence
SatVu Thermal imaging from space
SkyWatch Earth observation data
Spacety Small radar satellites at high cadence
Synspective GraduatedThe StriX SAR constellation
Tropical Weather Analytics, Inc. Hurricane and weather forecasting
How many earth observation space startups are there in 2026?
Space Bandits tracks 33 earth observation companies, 23 of them active, with $733.1M in disclosed funding between them.
What is the latest news from earth observation startups?
The most recent milestone on record is from AIRMO, dated 8 October 2026: "Agrees to support Kazakhstan’s Ghalam in developing an engineering qualification model of a methane-detection payload."
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