https://www.spacebandits.io/industries/earth-observation Dated, sourced milestones from the earth observation companies Space Bandits tracks. en https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/pixxel pixxel/2026-09-06/Raises a $100M Series C led by Temasek and Seraphim to fund the Honeybee constellation and satellite production in India and the US Sun, 06 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises a $100M Series C led by Temasek and Seraphim to fund the Honeybee constellation and satellite production in India and the US. Source: https://spacenews.com/pixxel-raises-100-million-to-expand-satellite-production-across-india-and-us/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/heo-robotics heo-robotics/2026-09-02/Continuum-1, a satellite bought from Satellogic, holds station near a spent Long March 2C stage and images it from about 40 km at 8 cm per pixel, HEO's first rendezvous and proximity operation Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Continuum-1, a satellite bought from Satellogic, holds station near a spent Long March 2C stage and images it from about 40 km at 8 cm per pixel, HEO's first rendezvous and proximity operation. Source: https://www.heospace.com/resources/stories/heo-releases-first-images-captured-during-rendezvous-and-proximity-operations-mission https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/diffraqtion diffraqtion/2026-08-31/Adds more than $5M to the pre-seed from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures and others, taking the total past $10M, to fly a hosted payload Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Adds more than $5M to the pre-seed from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures and others, taking the total past $10M, to fly a hosted payload. Source: https://payloadspace.com/diffraqtion-adds-to-pre-seed-round-for-quantum-camera-tech/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/muon-space muon-space/2026-08-26/Wins an $11M NOAA TMATE award to build, launch and operate a microwave sounder within 24 months Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Wins an $11M NOAA TMATE award to build, launch and operate a microwave sounder within 24 months. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2026/08/26/noaa-contracts-muon-space-weather-stream-and-spire-for-tmate-project/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/spire spire/2026-08-26/Wins a $28M NOAA contract under TMATE to build and qualify a hyperspectral microwave sounder satellite Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Wins a $28M NOAA contract under TMATE to build and qualify a hyperspectral microwave sounder satellite. Source: https://ir.spire.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/312/spire-global-awarded-28-million-noaa-contract-to-advance https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hydrosat hydrosat/2026-08-21/Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its thermal-infrared satellites, pairing Space Force money with matched private capital Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its thermal-infrared satellites, pairing Space Force money with matched private capital. Source: https://payloadspace.com/spacewerx-announces-2026-stratfi-awardees/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/muon-space muon-space/2026-08-21/Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its satellite constellations, pairing Space Force money with matched private capital Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 STRATFI cycle for its satellite constellations, pairing Space Force money with matched private capital. Source: https://payloadspace.com/spacewerx-announces-2026-stratfi-awardees/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/muon-space muon-space/2026-08-20/Raises a $250M Series C led by Eclipse, with Google, Salesforce Ventures and Woven Capital among the new investors, to scale its satellite production Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises a $250M Series C led by Eclipse, with Google, Salesforce Ventures and Woven Capital among the new investors, to scale its satellite production. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2026/08/20/muon-space-raises-250m-series-c-to-build-large-scale-constellations/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/galaxeye galaxeye/2026-08-10/Acquires StarOps, a Bengaluru maker of satellite buses Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Acquires StarOps, a Bengaluru maker of satellite buses. Source: https://inc42.com/buzz/galaxeye-acquires-starops-to-expand-satellite-engineering-capabilities/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/muon-space muon-space/2026-07-07/First three operational FireSat satellites reach orbit Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT First three operational FireSat satellites reach orbit. Source: https://earthfirealliance.org/news-article/earth-fire-alliances-first-three-operational-firesats-reach-orbit/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/kuva-space kuva-space/2026-07-01/Selected for NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition on-ramp Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Selected for NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition on-ramp. Source: https://satnews.com/2026/07/01/nasa-adds-kuva-us-to-476-million-commercial-satellite-data-acquisition-on-ramp-contract/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/chang-guang-satellite chang-guang-satellite/2026-07/Raises about 5B yuan led by state funds and restarts its IPO, with 161 Jilin-1 satellites launched across 30 launches Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises about 5B yuan led by state funds and restarts its IPO, with 161 Jilin-1 satellites launched across 30 launches. Source: http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/202607/t20260709_3078237.shtml https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satvu satvu/2026-06-29/HotSat-2 enters commercial service Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT HotSat-2 enters commercial service. Source: https://spacenews.com/satvu-restarts-commercial-operations-with-hotsat-2/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satsure satsure/2026-06-10/Wins a ₹24.6 crore grant from IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund to build Dhaarini, AI models for Indian Earth observation data Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Wins a ₹24.6 crore grant from IN-SPACe's Technology Adoption Fund to build Dhaarini, AI models for Indian Earth observation data. Source: https://www.satsure.co/press-release/satsure-wins-%e2%82%b924-6-crore-taf-grant-from-in-space/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/iqps iqps/2026-06/An Electron launch carrying its Mikura-I satellite aborts at ignition; the satellite flies that August Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT An Electron launch carrying its Mikura-I satellite aborts at ignition; the satellite flies that August. Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-lab-launch-iqps-radar-satellite-grain-goddess-provides https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/piersight piersight/2026-06/Launches Vidura, a drone-mounted radar that sees through foliage, for ground defence operations Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Launches Vidura, a drone-mounted radar that sees through foliage, for ground defence operations. Source: https://piersight.space/company/about-us https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/pixxel pixxel/2026-05-05/Wins a National Reconnaissance Office contract to show what commercial hyperspectral imagery can do for US analysts Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Wins a National Reconnaissance Office contract to show what commercial hyperspectral imagery can do for US analysts. Source: https://www.pixxel.space/news/pixxel-awarded-nro-strategic-commercial-enhancements-contract-for-hyperspectral-remote-sensing-capabilities https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/galaxeye galaxeye/2026-05-03/Drishti, its first satellite and the largest Earth observation satellite built by a private Indian company, launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Sun, 03 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Drishti, its first satellite and the largest Earth observation satellite built by a private Indian company, launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Source: https://thefederal.com/category/news/mission-drishti-galaxeye-satellite-expansion-india-space-startup-bengaluru-241657 https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hawkeye-360 hawkeye-360/2026-05/Lists on the NYSE as HAWK, raising $416M Fri, 01 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lists on the NYSE as HAWK, raising $416M. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2026/05/07/hawkeye-360-raises-416m-pricing-at-high-end-for-ipo/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satvu satvu/2026-05/HotSat-2 returns first light imagery of three energy sites Fri, 01 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT HotSat-2 returns first light imagery of three energy sites. Source: https://spacewatch.global/2026/05/satvus-hotsat-2-first-light-images-reveal-live-activity-at-three-globally-strategic-energy-sites/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/spire spire/2026-05/Opens a Munich factory it says can build up to 100 satellites a year Fri, 01 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Opens a Munich factory it says can build up to 100 satellites a year. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/manufacturing/2026/05/07/spire-says-new-german-facility-can-produce-up-to-100-satellites-per-year/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/spacety spacety/2026-04/Raises 1.3B yuan from mostly state-linked funds to scale radar manufacturing, with an IPO in preparation Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises 1.3B yuan from mostly state-linked funds to scale radar manufacturing, with an IPO in preparation. Source: https://spacenews.com/spacety-raises-190-million-to-scale-satellite-manufacturing-plans-ipo/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hydrosat hydrosat/2026-03-10/Signs a multi-year water monitoring contract with Madera County Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Signs a multi-year water monitoring contract with Madera County. Source: https://hydrosat.com/2026/03/10/hydrosat-secures-multi-year-water-monitoring-contract-in-madera-county/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/airmo airmo/2026-03/Raises a €5M seed led by Ananda Impact Ventures to fund its first satellite mission Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises a €5M seed led by Ananda Impact Ventures to fund its first satellite mission. Source: https://payloadspace.com/airmo-raises-e5m-for-methane-monitoring-sats/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/muon-space muon-space/2026-03/Three Vindler 2.0 satellites launched for SNC on Transporter-16 Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Three Vindler 2.0 satellites launched for SNC on Transporter-16. Source: https://www.muonspace.com/press/snc-and-muon-space-launch-three-vindler-r-2-0-satellites-to-power-expedited-rf-data-analytics https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satvu satvu/2026-03/HotSat-2 launched on Falcon 9 Transporter-16 Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT HotSat-2 launched on Falcon 9 Transporter-16. Source: https://orbitaltoday.com/2026/04/12/uks-satvu-expands-thermal-eyes-in-the-sky-with-hotsat-2-launch/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satvu satvu/2026-02-17/Closes £30 million round backed by NATO Innovation Fund Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Closes £30 million round backed by NATO Innovation Fund. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2026/02/17/satvu-closes-funding-round/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/constellr constellr/2026-02-10/Closes a €37 million Series A led by Alpine Space Ventures Tue, 10 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Closes a €37 million Series A led by Alpine Space Ventures. Source: https://europeanspaceflight.com/earth-observation-data-provider-constellr-closes-e37-million-series-a/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/airmo airmo/2026-02/Picks EnduroSat to host its methane sensors for a twelve-satellite constellation from 2027 Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Picks EnduroSat to host its methane sensors for a twelve-satellite constellation from 2027. Source: https://www.satellitetoday.com/imagery-and-sensing/2026/02/25/airmo-selects-endurosat-to-launch-methane-monitoring-sensors-into-orbit/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/heo-robotics heo-robotics/2026-02/Wins one of the NRO’s first three commercial non-Earth imaging contracts Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Wins one of the NRO’s first three commercial non-Earth imaging contracts. Source: https://spacenews.com/national-reconnaissance-office-adds-heo-satvu-and-sierra-nevada-to-commercial-imaging-program/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/albedo albedo/2026-01-23/Reports Clarity-1 lost after nine months in orbit when a radio memory fault blocked reboots; the bus data supports a five-year life at 275 km Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Reports Clarity-1 lost after nine months in orbit when a radio memory fault blocked reboots; the bus data supports a five-year life at 275 km. Source: https://albedo.com/post/clarity-1-what-worked-and-where-we-go-next https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/piersight piersight/2026-01-21/Signs, as part of the Pixxel-led consortium, IN-SPACe's agreement for a national constellation of 12 Earth observation satellites Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Signs, as part of the Pixxel-led consortium, IN-SPACe's agreement for a national constellation of 12 Earth observation satellites. Source: https://www.pixxel.space/news/pixxel-led-consortium-signs-agreement-with-in-space-to-build-indias-national-eo-constellation https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/pixxel pixxel/2026-01-21/Signs the agreement with IN-SPACe to build, own and operate India's national Earth observation constellation of 12 satellites, leading a consortium with Dhruva Space, PierSight and SatSure Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Signs the agreement with IN-SPACe to build, own and operate India's national Earth observation constellation of 12 satellites, leading a consortium with Dhruva Space, PierSight and SatSure. Source: https://www.pixxel.space/news/pixxel-led-consortium-signs-agreement-with-in-space-to-build-indias-national-eo-constellation https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/satsure satsure/2026-01-21/Signs, with Pixxel, Dhruva Space and PierSight, the agreement with IN-SPACe to build and operate a 12-satellite national Earth observation system Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Signs, with Pixxel, Dhruva Space and PierSight, the agreement with IN-SPACe to build and operate a 12-satellite national Earth observation system. Source: https://www.pixxel.space/news/pixxel-led-consortium-signs-agreement-with-in-space-to-build-indias-national-eo-constellation https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hydrosat hydrosat/2026-01-15/Raises a $60 million Series B to expand the constellation Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Raises a $60 million Series B to expand the constellation. Source: https://spacenews.com/hydrosat-raises-60-million-in-series-b-funding/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/diffraqtion diffraqtion/2026-01-13/Emerges from stealth with a $4.2M pre-seed led by QDNL Participations and a $1.5M DARPA contract for space domain awareness Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Emerges from stealth with a $4.2M pre-seed led by QDNL Participations and a $1.5M DARPA contract for space domain awareness. Source: https://payloadspace.com/quantum-imaging-startup-diffraqtion-emerges-from-stealth/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/iqps iqps/2025-12/Wins a share of Japan’s Ministry of Defense satellite constellation tender Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Wins a share of Japan’s Ministry of Defense satellite constellation tender. Source: https://i-qps.net/en/news/3379/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/diffraqtion diffraqtion/2025-11-20/Wins the Slush 100 competition and its $1.1M equity prize from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Wins the Slush 100 competition and its $1.1M equity prize from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst. Source: https://diffraqtion.com/news/diffraqtion-raises-pre-seed-to-build-quantum-camera-enabled-satellite-and-telescope-constellations https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/ghgsat ghgsat/2025-11/Launches Teodor and Laila on Transporter-15, timed to coincide with COP30 Sat, 01 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Launches Teodor and Laila on Transporter-15, timed to coincide with COP30. Source: https://www.ghgsat.com/en/newsroom/ghgsat-expands-world-leading-methane-constellation-with-two-new-satellites-launching-fall-2025-teodor-c14-and-laila-c15/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/heo-robotics heo-robotics/2025-11/Holmes Mk2 flies on Impulse’s Mira, the first NOAA-licensed non-Earth imaging payload cleared above 800 km Sat, 01 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Holmes Mk2 flies on Impulse’s Mira, the first NOAA-licensed non-Earth imaging payload cleared above 800 km. Source: https://www.heospace.com/resources/stories/heo-launches-first-noaa-licensed-non-earth-imaging-payload-authorized-above-800-kilometres https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/albedo albedo/2025-10-01/Shuts its commercial imagery business and lays off staff to sell the VLEO bus itself to other payload operators Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT Shuts its commercial imagery business and lays off staff to sell the VLEO bus itself to other payload operators. Source: https://payloadspace.com/exclusive-albedo-drops-its-commercial-imagery-business/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hydrosat hydrosat/2025-09-30/The Luxembourg Future Fund takes a stake in Hydrosat Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT The Luxembourg Future Fund takes a stake in Hydrosat. Source: https://hydrosat.com/2025/09/30/luxembourg-future-fund-invests-in-hydrosat-to-tackle-global-challenges-with-satellite-technology/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/spire spire/2025-09/NOAA awards $11.2M for GNSS radio occultation weather data Mon, 01 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT NOAA awards $11.2M for GNSS radio occultation weather data. Source: https://spire.com/press-release/spire-global-awarded-11-1-million-noaa-contract-for-satellite-weather-data/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/pixxel pixxel/2025-08-27/Three more Fireflies launch on SpaceX's NAOS mission, bringing the constellation to six Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT Three more Fireflies launch on SpaceX's NAOS mission, bringing the constellation to six. Source: https://www.pixxel.space/news/pixxel-launches-three-more-fireflies-with-spacex-paving-the-way-for-planetary-scale-hyperspectral-imaging https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/axelspace axelspace/2025-08-13/Axelspace Holdings lists on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market under code 402A Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT Axelspace Holdings lists on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market under code 402A. Source: https://www.utokyo-ipc.co.jp/en/news/2025/08/axelspace_exit/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/spire spire/2025-08/Receives an NYSE non-compliance notice after restating two years of financials Fri, 01 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT Receives an NYSE non-compliance notice after restating two years of financials. Source: https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/spire-global-receives-nyse-notice-regarding-late-form-10-q-filing-2025-08-22 https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/capella-space capella-space/2025-07-15/IonQ completes the acquisition of Capella Space Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT IonQ completes the acquisition of Capella Space. Source: https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/07/15/ionq-completes-acquisition-of-capella-space/ https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/sensar sensar/2025-07/Itility Group acquires a majority stake, folding Sensar into its Earth observation hub Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT Itility Group acquires a majority stake, folding Sensar into its Earth observation hub. Source: https://blogs.itility.nl/en/press-release-itility-group-acquires-majority-stake-in-sensar https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/constellr constellr/2025-06-23/SkyBee-2 launched on Falcon 9 Transporter-14 Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT SkyBee-2 launched on Falcon 9 Transporter-14. Source: https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/missions/constellr/description https://www.spacebandits.io/startups/hydrosat hydrosat/2025-06-23/VanZyl-2 launched with four times the capacity Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT VanZyl-2 launched with four times the capacity. Source: https://www.muonspace.com/vanzyl-2-mission/