US climate sensing startup PlanetiQ aims to raise US$15m through an equity round by early autumn to fully fund its first two microsatellites, SatelliteFinance has learnt. The group confirmed it is in advanced talks with investors and that the spacecraft…
US climate sensing startup PlanetiQ aims to raise US$15m through an equity round by early autumn to fully fund its first two microsatellites, SatelliteFinance has learnt.
The group confirmed it is in advanced talks with investors and that the spacecraft have already secured a partner to launch them in the second half of next year.
They will be joined by at least 10 more satellites being built by microsat specialist Blue Canyon Technologies before the end of of 2017.
PlanetiQ announced it had partnered with BCT last month, helping to significantly reduce the initial 12-strong constellation’s cost from the US$160m-US$180m it envisaged two years ago.
A spokesman said BCT’s smaller design means all-in on-orbit costs now stand at “the low seven figures [US$] per satellite”.
They will each use PlanetiQ’s patented and prototyped GPS-based weather sensor Pyxis, enabling the group to start offering commercial forecasting services shortly after the first two are launched.
A further four and then six birds are due to follow to provide dense global weather data, with eight million observations per day.
Growing government and commercial demand for weather and environmental data has spawned a number of satellite-based startups, such as Spire, which recently raised US$40m to help it launch a 20 nanosat constellation before the end of this year.
Spire is also using GPS-based technology to track weather data, alongside a service to monitor vessels for the maritime sector.
PlanetiQ believes its focus on the weather and climate markets, together with sensors that it claims can penetrate much further down into the atmosphere, gives it the advantage for numerical weather forecasting.
The spokesman said its satellites are being designed to provide services for seven to 10 years each, making them the most cost-effective satellite-based source of forecast-quality weather data in the market.
The group was founded in 2012 with an undisclosed equity investment from US technology groups Broad Reach Engineering Company, Millennium Engineering and Integration, and Moog, which later acquired Broad Reach.
It is understood to have received follow on investments in 2014 and 2015.
Raymond James is running its latest equity round.
