{"id":15369,"date":"2016-11-16T23:59:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T04:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/"},"modified":"2016-11-16T23:59:15","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T04:59:15","slug":"eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyes and ears in the sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Think of a satellite. Imagine what it looks like, its size and how much it costs.<\/p>\n

Most likely you were thinking of an automobile-sized, multi-ton object that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and another hundred million dollars to launch into orbit on top of a giant rocket. And you are right, this is what satellites were like. Until now.<\/p>\n

The satellite industry has fundamentally changed with space becoming more accessible. Satellites have become smaller, more powerful and much cheaper to launch into orbit.<\/p>\n

Due to lower equipment and launch cost it is now possible to build a constellation with dozens of satellites. Satellites can be frequently replaced allowing a progressive stream of innovation.<\/p>\n

Three distinct drivers are responsible for this trend.<\/p>\n

Firstly, Moore\u2019s law has radically driven down the cost and size of electronics. Similar to how mobile phones have shrunk and become more powerful, satellite electronics that used to take up large amounts of space in traditional satellites now fits into a shoebox. Launching something smaller and lighter into space is inherently less costly. Figure 1 shows a modern cubesat \u2013 10x10cm standardized satellite unit typically sitting in low earth orbit and capable of taking high-definition images.<\/p>\n

\"Figure
Figure 1: Cubesat (Source: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Secondly, private companies such as SpaceX have entered the launch vehicle market and have radically driving down cost of launch services by aiming for re-usability of rockets. Traditionally, launch vehicles are lost after a successful launch. Imagine if every time a UPS truck delivers a parcel to your house it blows up afterwards. The cost of shipment would increase significantly. Through reusability and a radical approach to cost SpaceX has managed to offer a launch for $61.2 million dollar on the Falcon 9 today compared to an average cost of $225 on a ULA rocket, a traditional launch provider[1]<\/a>. With SpaceX perfecting the reusability of their rockets costs are bound to come down even further.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, because traditionally space projects have been incredible uncertainty and high-risk only governments or multi-billion dollar communications conglomerates had the ability to invest in them. With smaller satellites being deployed into low-earth orbit the cost of a loss is significantly reduced. Also, due to the lower manufacturing cost satellites can be launched rather quickly and business models become revenue generating within months.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s acquisition of the satellite company Skybox Imaging for $500m has sparked great interest in the venture capital community. Skybox Imaging\u2019s constellation of low-earth orbit satellites will allow Google to take a picture of any place on earth twice a day with possible applications in Google Maps. Leading venture capital funds such as Bessemer Ventures or Canaan Partners are actively looking for investment opportunities in the satellite market.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Access to space essentially allows us to capture unique data that drives insights in all kinds of industries. For example, if you could count the number of cars on a Wall-Mart parking lot as a hedge fund you could predict earnings more accurately. Or imagine you have hourly pictures of forests around the world that allow you to identify fires early on.<\/p>\n

While satellites only collect data, the key to success is processing and analyzing this data to generate actionable insights.<\/p>\n

One startup successfully doing this is satellite company Spire. The four-year old startup was founded by Peter Platzer (HBS\u201903) and as of today has launched 12 satellites into orbit. By the end of 2016 it plans to have 40 in orbit in total.<\/p>\n

Spire\u2019s satellite constellation \u2018listens\u2019 to the planet. Based on the collected data Spire has developed two innovative products.<\/p>\n

Spire Sense picks up Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals sent by ships to identify themselves and their position. After only 50 nautical miles from the shore the curvature of earth blocks the AIS signal from reaching a port. Spire\u2019s satellites, however, can pick up these signals anywhere and thereby track ships globally. One interesting application of this technology is combining the AIS signals with terrestrial imaging which allows you to identify piracy or illegal fishing activities.<\/p>\n

Spire Stratos utilizes GPS radio occultation to collect weather and climate data. As shown in figure 2 satellites pick up a signal from a GPS signal which passes through the atmosphere. The changes introduced to the signal by the atmosphere allow Spire to infer on weather and climate conditions in particular locations.<\/p>\n

\"GPS
Figure 2: GPS Radio Occultation (Source: Cosmic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recently Spire has signed a landmark contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide weather and atmospheric data, the first time NOAA purchased weather data from a private company. Spire\u2019s data will feed into weather and climate models, helping us predict natural disasters und better understand climate change.<\/p>\n

Spire estimates that weather impacts $26 trillion of the world economy and that 10% of that can be mitigated by improved weather models.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Today many space startups generate a large amount of imagery and data. The big challenge, however, is to turn all this data into actionable recommendations for businesses back on earth. Spire is leading the way with highly innovative models to provide weather data and track ships. Other space companies should follow their lead and focus heavily on data analytics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> http:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/2014\/05\/ula-fires-back-at-spacex-at-space-symposium-details-launch-costs\/<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2016\/03\/08\/google-renames-its-satellite-startup-skybox-imaging-to-terra-bella-and-adds-focus-on-image-analysis\/<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> http:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/nextspace\/2016\/10\/26\/spire-ceo-launching-satellites-every-month\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How a revolution in satellites drives unique insights about our planet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1932,"featured_media":15370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-15369","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nEyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How a revolution in satellites drives unique insights about our planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1007\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-17T04:59:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1007},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Eyes and ears in the sky\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"How a revolution in satellites drives unique insights about our planet","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1007,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/","name":"Eyes and ears in the sky - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-17T04:59:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/ArduSat_Space_mockup1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1007},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/eyes-and-ears-in-the-sky\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Eyes and ears in the sky"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/15369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/15369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}