Geospatial solutions group BlackBridge has secured C$22m in financing from the Bank of Montreal and the Business Development Bank of Canada to fund the next generation of RapidEye Earth imaging satellites.
BlackBridge said the financing will contribute…
Geospatial solutions group BlackBridge has secured C$22m in financing from the Bank of Montreal and the Business Development Bank of Canada to fund the next generation of RapidEye Earth imaging satellites.
BlackBridge said the financing will contribute to the development of a constellation of five satellites called RapidEye+ that are expected to launch in 2019.
Richard Goode, BlackBridge’a CFO, said: “We are pleased that both BMO and BDC have joined us in the development of our next generation of satellites. We are seeking strong long-term partners as we continue to grow our business, and both BMO and BDC provided the financial strength and commitment we were looking for.”
Matthew Kellow, managing director of subordinate financing at BDC, added: “BlackBridge is a dynamic, growth-oriented, and forward-thinking company that is a great example of the type of company we are looking to partner with over the long-term. We are excited about furthering our partnership with the company and the new business opportunities that will result from RapidEye+.”
According to BlackBridge, the RapidEye+ satellites will be designed to have an imaging capacity that far exceeds the current RapidEye constellation’s capacity of five million km2 per day.
The new spacecraft’s superspectral system will include 14 bands strategically placed for applications in agriculture, vegetation monitoring, land cover discrimination, water quality, and many others. This band set also includes a panchromatic channel with resolution better than one metre.
BlackBridge plans to announce the results of a competition for the design of RapidEye+ in the coming weeks.
Having filed for Germany’s equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2011, following breaches to several loan covenants, Brandenburg-based Earth observation firm RapidEye was acquired by Canadian geospatial specialist Iunctus Geomatics in August 2011.
Iunctus was part the BlackBridge Group and, following a two-year process of uniting all BlackBridge-owned companies as one presence in the marketplace, RapidEye officially changed its name to BlackBridge in November 2013.
The group now comprises the Germany-based RapidEye, Geomatics Canada and Canadian technology services provider BlackBridge Networks Services.
