Near Space Labs provides unmatched high-resolution imaging using stratospheric satellites
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Near Space Labs provides unmatched high-resolution imaging using stratospheric satellites
Imaging is one of the key markets in the emerging space tech industry, and for good reason – there's a proven and robust demand for imaging and Earth observation data among government, private and other clients. Orbital satellites satisfy some of this demand, and companies like Planet have grown sizeable businesses on building satellites that can provide this kind of data more affordably, but startup Near Space Labs is taking a different approach that provides imaging better suited to certain types of industries and uses.
"We decided to start a company and approach this from a totally new angle, and utilize this gap in aerospace, which is the stratosphere – twice higher than where airliners fly," said Near Space Labs CEO Remarriages Matevosyan in an interview. "So from that vantage point, we have a very nice view of a very large area, we still can be very high resolution like an airplane or a drone would be, and we can also be very frequent: Currently, we have a daily cadence of imagery, which is unprecedented in this industry at the resolutions that we provide."
This kind of data is very useful for insurance, real estate and logistics companies, as well as for local municipalities, since it can provide highly relevant and timely data, in the form of very detailed images, quickly. That means you can check progress on a large construction project from an overall perspective, monitor emerging traffic congestion issues or check operational efficiency at a port from a top-down view. Traditional satellites aren't great at providing this easily and affordably to businesses of all sizes, either because high-resolution optics from that altitude require hugel