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DigitalGlobe forms Saudi smallsat joint venture
Satellite imaging operator DigitalGlobe and Saudi Arabia have formed a joint venture that will develop a constellation of an initial six smallsats focused on the Middle East.
Satellite imaging operator DigitalGlobe (NYSE:
Signed with Saudi-owned investment fund TAQNIA and technology institute KACST, the agreement will see revenue shared and does not require DigitalGlobe to invest any capital upfront in the imaging network.
The Saudi groups will get access to the operator’s image library, its imagery production platform, and crucially its distribution and customer base, including the largest buyers of commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information. The constellation will utilise DigitalGlobe’s ground infrastructure and could expand beyond six smallsats.
KACST will build and launch the satellites – expected to be lofted in late 2018 or early 2019 – and will own 50% of the satellites’ imaging capacity inside its “communication cone” of Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region. It is not clear whether KACST will build the satellites itself or if this will be outsourced to another firm, as it did when it ordered two satellites from Lockheed Martin last year.
TAQNIA, which is aiming to be a leading player in the Middle East’s commercial space sector, will be responsible for selling the capacity.
DigitalGlobe will have rights to the other 50% within the cone, and 100% of the satellites’ capacity outside of the region, although it is unclear at this stage how large the constellation’s footprint will be.
The Colorado-based firm said the smallsats, a first for the operator, “will be highly complementary to the next-generation satellite architecture” it is developing to replenish its larger, high-capacity WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 birds.
Raymond James analyst Chris Quilty noted that, while DigitalGlobe’s “first foray” into smallsats appeared modest, it suggested the direction of the Worldview -1 and -2 replacement strategy that he anticipated would be “a highly competitive and technically superior solution” to imaging products made by its upstart Silicon Valley rivals.
DigitalGlobe will share the commercially generated revenue with TAQNIA and KACST. Details of how this will be split were not disclosed.
DigitalGlobe CEO Jeff Tarr said the smallsats would enable the company “to uniquely unlock new value in emerging use cases” through a combination of high-resolution, high-accuracy imagery and high-revisit imagery.
“This innovative, capital-efficient business model leverages DigitalGlobe’s extensive investment in an industry-leading ground infrastructure and our customer relationships to the mutual benefit of both parties,” he said.
Turki bin Saud, TAQNIA’s chair and the president of KACST, said: “Partnering with the premier commercial satellite imaging firm will help to propel the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to become a leader in remote sensing and satellite technology.”
