WASHINGTON — Hyperspectral Earth observation company Wyvern will use data from sensors on Loft Orbital satellites to expand its constellation, the companies announced June 26.
Wyvern said it will have access to data from hyperspectral imagers on Loft satellites, allowing it to virtually expand its satellite constellation without having to build, launch or operate its own satellites.
“Adding additional capacity to our constellation enables Wyvern to better serve our growing customer base,” Thomas VanMatre, chief revenue officer of Wyvern, said in a statement. “Loft takes care of the infrastructure so that we can focus on what matters most to our customers.”
Wyvern had initially created its own cubesat-class satellites with hyperspectral sensors called Dragonette, built and operated by AAC Clyde Space. The Canadian company launched three of them in 2023, completing the company’s initial constellation.
Even before completing those satellites, Wyvern announced a partnership last September to use a Loft Orbital satellite, citing the ability of the larger Loft satellites to provide 20 to 100 times the downlink capacity as its cubesats. The new agreement is in addition to the earlier one, a Loft Orbital spokesperson said.
Loft has touted the ability of its spacecraft to perform “virtual missions” that can change based on customer requirements. The satellites include imaging and radio-frequency payloads along with inter-satellite links and onboard computing resources. In March, Loft Orbital announced an agreement with SkyServe, an Indian startup, to install a software platform on the spacecraft to allow customers to perform realtime analysis of imagery the satellite collects using artificial intelligence models.
“Our infrastructure is designed to provide a rapid and simple path to orbit, enabling companies like Wyvern to focus on data and analytics rather than the complexities of deploying and operating a large space project,” said Gautier Brunet, vice president of business development at Loft Orbital, in a statement.