New York City captured from Deimos 2 in February of 2015. Photo: UrtheCast

[Via Satellite 07-16-2015] UrtheCast has announced the acquisition of Elecnor’s Earth observation business Deimos Imaging for an aggregate price of €76.4 million ($83 million). Through the purchase, UrtheCast gains ownership and operation of the Deimos 1 and Deimos 2 satellites as well as operations related to the collection, storage, processing, analysis, distribution, and licensing of imagery captured by these and other satellites.

Earlier this year UrtheCast partnered with SSTL and Elecnor Deimos Space to build a constellation of 16 optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. The combination of UrtheCast and Deimos operations is expected to significantly accelerate UrtheCast’s strategies related to distribution, Web platform development, and the building out of the constellation. Deimos 1, launched in 2009 for a 10-year mission, has a collection capacity of more than 5 million square kilometers per day, and collects 22-meter resolution, three-band imagery with a 650-km swath. The Deimos 2 satellite launched in 2014 for a seven-year mission, and is capable of collecting more than 150,000 square kilometers per day, taking 75 cm pan-sharpened images, with a swath of 12 km.

“We’re delighted to welcome 50 additional employees from the Deimos team, a highly experienced group with deep roots in the Earth observation industry,” said UrtheCast President and Chief Operating Officer, Wade Larson. “In combination with Deimos’ robust customer base, our business development program is poised for further growth this year. Deimos has an established customer base in Europe and Latin America, including the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as commercial customers in the agricultural, forestry, and land use industries.”