On the show floor of SmallSat Europe in Amsterdam, Torsten Kriening sits down with Thys Cronje of Simera Sense to explore one of the most impressive European space stories happening right now.
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Three years ago, Simera Sense moved its headquarters from South Africa to Leuven, Belgium. What started as a relocation has evolved into a serious European expansion with three offices across the continent. The company now operates from Belgium (headquarters and larger xScape 300 and 500 cameras), the UK (electronics manufacturing tapping into British detector technology), and France (focused on space situational awareness cameras). Over 20 new hires in Europe in the past year alone signal that Simera Sense is becoming a genuine European employer while still manufacturing smaller cameras in South Africa.
The numbers speak for themselves. Simera Sense has over 50 payloads in space today, with the Xcape 100 product range serving as their workhorse – more than 30-35 units in orbit, roughly half of which are hyperspectral instruments. Their most famous customer? Wyvern in Canada, whose data from Simera Sense’s hyperspectral cameras is publicly downloadable online.
Thys also reveals an exciting new development: the SSA Scape100, a full-motion camera designed for space situational awareness. As Earth orbit becomes increasingly crowded, this camera can scan 360 degrees around it, focus on specific assets, and determine the locations of objects nearby. Built by repurposing Simera Sense’s proven Earth observation technology, it addresses one of the hottest topics in space security.
The hyperspectral HyperScape100 demonstrates remarkable flexibility – capturing 32 bands from a possible 400 spectral bands and reconfigurable in flight. Imagine flying over a desert and selecting specific bands for that terrain, then switching mid-orbit when passing over forest. The company is working with multiple European onboard processing partners to develop applications specifically for this capability.
For anyone interested in how a South African company is establishing serious European roots while delivering proven hyperspectral, multispectral, and now SSA technology – this conversation reveals what European-South African collaboration looks like when done right.
