Ibadan, 21 June 2023. Finnish Earth observation Company Kuva Space has received a five-year commercial contract worth €5M from the European Space Agency (ESA) to be the world’s sole provider of hyperspectral data services for the European Commission’s Copernicus Contributing Missions (CCM) program. As a result, Kuva Space will demonstrate its technological capabilities to monitor farming and aquaculture crops, forests, methane release, and harmful algae blooms in seas and coastal areas.
Kuva Space’s hyperspectral data services will facilitate the development of new and accurate commercial services for Copernicus users and beyond. Furthermore, it will help them make financially smarter and environmentally responsible decisions related to global issues like food security, carbon capture, and safety and security.
Speaking on the award and the opportunity to bring hyperspectral innovation and expertise to the Copernicus community, Jarkko Antila, CEO of Kuva Space, said, “We look forward to closely collaborating with ESA experts to validate our data quality and capabilities. This program represents a remarkable opportunity to help shape the high standard for hyperspectral data services within the EU and globally”.
Kuva Space’s commercial microsatellite constellation, featuring a patented hyperspectral camera, can capture scientific-grade data on details like crop types and their health, soil conditions, biomass, biodiversity, and marine chemical pollutants, at scale. Leveraging its AI-driven analytics platform, Kuva Space transforms the data it collects into actionable insights, allowing users to monitor, identify, and forecast changes and their impact in near real time.
Kuva Space will launch its Hyperfield-1 microsatellite in November 2023 before launching four Gen 2 microsatellites in 2024. This will mark the initial stage of Kuva Space’s constellation, which aims to eventually deploy up to 100 satellites by 2030 to measure the material composition of any target on Earth sub daily.
