Singapore National Stadium is shown in an Umbra SAR image on the left and a Maxar WorldView-3 satellite image on the right. Photo: Maxar Technologies and Umbra

Maxar Technologies and Umbra announced a deal Tuesday that will give Maxar dedicated capacity from Umbra’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation. Maxar said the combined offering will be the “most advanced multi-source geospatial intelligence solution.” 

Umbra is a SAR satellite startup with five satellites on orbit. Its satellites are licensed down to 13 cm resolution. SAR technology can see through clouds, smoke, and darkness, which optical imagery cannot. Umbra’s SAR data will first be integrated into Maxar’s Rapid Access Program (RAP) platform, which customers use to task Maxar’s satellites demand. 

Maxar said it will use its SAR processing expertise, its own high-resolution optical imagery and 3D datasets to enhance the original SAR data and deliver actionable insights. The combined offering is expected to be available starting in the second quarter of 2023 and be fully integrated by 2024. It will also augment Maxar’s WorldView Legion constellation.  

Maxar CEO Dan Jablonsky said this deal breaks new ground for combining these technologies, which he said have been siloed in the past. 

“By integrating dedicated capacity from Umbra satellites into our secure ground infrastructure, we can help our Access customers derive real-time insights from the highest resolution electro-optical and SAR data in the industry. Once combined with Maxar’s best-in-class geospatial analytics capabilities, this data will help customers more easily achieve mission success, particularly for defense missions,” Jablonsky said. 

Umbra recently saw the launch of two satellites on SpaceX’s Transporter rideshare mission in January.