Introduction
Satellite data has emerged as a game-changing category of alternative data for professional investors, offering unprecedented insights into global economic activity, industry trends, and company performance. By providing a bird’s-eye view of the world, satellite imagery and data analytics enable investors to track everything from crop yields and oil storage levels to retail foot traffic and shipping activity. This powerful tool can give investors a significant edge in making informed decisions and uncovering hidden opportunities. In this blog post, we will take a deep dive into the rapidly evolving landscape of satellite data providers, exploring the key players that are leading the charge in this exciting space and the innovative ways in which they are harnessing the power of satellite technology to transform the investment landscape.
Orbital Insight
Company Summary
Orbital Insight is a geospatial data analytics company based in California that aims to measure and quantify Earth’s activities. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Privateer, the company’s mission is to make space data and Earth insights more accessible and powerful. Orbital Insight’s next-generation geoanalytics platform, TerraScope, is designed to quickly deploy, integrate with various data sources, and enable rapid, scalable processing. The platform is used by decision-makers across multiple sectors, including geospatial intelligence, supply chain monitoring, real estate due diligence, GIS mapping, and state and local governance. TerraScope’s core component, the GO platform, integrates multiple geospatial data sources, such as satellite imagery, cellphone GPS, and ship GPS, to provide a comprehensive view of the world’s physical activity. The AI-powered platform automates complex steps in deriving insights, allowing users to query the world using simple parameters and obtain valuable information for various industries and applications.
Key Features For Investors
Orbital Insight harnesses the power of geospatial data and artificial intelligence to provide hedge funds and asset managers with unique insights that drive better investment decisions. By analyzing satellite imagery, cellphone location data, connected car GPS, and other alternative data sources, Orbital Insight offers investors a real-time, unbiased view into economic activity across industries and geographies.
The company’s AI-powered platform, GO, enables investors to:
- Monitor asset-level activity and supply chain performance for public and private companies
- Assess consumer foot traffic and spending patterns at retail locations, restaurants, and entertainment venues
- Track energy supply and demand dynamics by measuring oil storage levels, refinery utilization, and power plant output
- Evaluate the progress and potential impact of construction projects and real estate developments
- Quantify agricultural yields, commodity flows, and shipping activity to gauge global trade and commodity prices
- Identify emerging market trends and disruptions before they are reflected in traditional financial metrics
Improving Investment Decisions
Orbital Insight empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make more informed investment decisions by providing unique insights derived from geospatial data and artificial intelligence. The company’s platform analyzes satellite imagery, cellphone location data, connected car GPS, and other alternative data sources to offer investors a comprehensive, unbiased view of economic activity across industries and geographies in near real-time.
By leveraging Orbital Insight’s AI-powered analytics, investors can:
- Monitor asset-level activity and supply chain performance for public and private companies
- Assess consumer foot traffic and spending patterns at retail locations, restaurants, and entertainment venues
- Track energy supply and demand dynamics by measuring oil storage levels, refinery utilization, and power plant output
- Evaluate the progress and potential impact of construction projects and real estate developments
- Quantify agricultural yields, commodity flows, and shipping activity to gauge global trade and commodity prices
- Identify emerging market trends and disruptions before they are reflected in traditional financial metrics
Orbital Insight’s alternative data and insights enable hedge funds and asset managers to gain a competitive edge by uncovering hidden trends, validating investment theses, and managing risks more effectively. By incorporating these unique datasets into their research and decision-making processes, investors can enhance their understanding of the companies, sectors, and markets they invest in, ultimately driving better investment performance and outcomes for their clients.
SpaceKnow
Company Summary
SpaceKnow is an innovative company that harnesses the power of satellite imagery and advanced analytics to provide valuable insights into economic activity, defense and intelligence, construction and real estate, and energy and commodities. By combining high-resolution satellite data with cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and industry expertise, SpaceKnow creates a comprehensive, up-to-date virtual encyclopedia of the physical world. This enables businesses, governments, and organizations to make informed decisions based on accurate, unbiased, and timely information derived from satellite imagery. SpaceKnow’s solutions range from tracking maritime vessels and monitoring tropical forests to analyzing economic activity and supply chain indicators, showcasing the company’s versatility and its commitment to tackling critical challenges across various sectors.
Key Features For Investors
SpaceKnow harnesses the power of satellite imagery and AI analytics to provide hedge funds and asset managers with unique insights into economic activity, supply chain dynamics, and other critical factors that drive market trends. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and a vast network of satellite data, SpaceKnow offers a range of features that empower investors to make better-informed decisions and gain a competitive edge.
SpaceKnow’s key features for investors include:
- Real-time monitoring of economic activity across the globe, enabling investors to track changes in production, consumption, and trade patterns without the delays inherent in traditional economic reporting
- Detailed geolocation data that helps quantify activities at specific sites, such as factories, mines, ports, and retail locations, providing valuable insights into company performance and supply chain dynamics
- Proprietary datasets, such as the China Satellite Manufacturing Index, US Retail Traffic Index, and Global Oil Storage Index, which cater to the specific needs of hedge funds and asset managers
- Advanced AI algorithms that predict trends based on historical and current satellite data, allowing investors to anticipate market movements and asset valuations more accurately
- Customizable solutions that can be tailored to specific use cases and integrated seamlessly into existing investment processes, ensuring easy access to actionable insights
Improving Investment Decisions
SpaceKnow empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make better-informed investment decisions by providing unique insights derived from satellite imagery and AI analytics. By leveraging SpaceKnow’s alternative data solutions, investors can gain a competitive edge in identifying emerging trends, assessing risks, and navigating complex market dynamics with greater confidence.
SpaceKnow’s services enable investors to:
- Monitor economic activity in real-time across the globe, tracking changes in production, consumption, and trade patterns without the delays associated with traditional economic reporting
- Analyze geolocation data to quantify activities at specific sites, such as factories, mines, ports, and retail locations, providing valuable insights into company performance and supply chain dynamics
- Utilize proprietary datasets, including the China Satellite Manufacturing Index, US Retail Traffic Index, and Global Oil Storage Index, to gain a deeper understanding of sector-specific trends and market movements
- Leverage advanced AI algorithms to predict trends based on historical and current satellite data, allowing for more accurate anticipation of market shifts and asset valuations
- Integrate customizable solutions seamlessly into existing investment processes, ensuring easy access to actionable insights tailored to their specific needs and objectives
Spire Global
Company Summary
Spire Global is an innovative space-to-cloud data and analytics company that operates the world’s largest multipurpose satellite constellation. By leveraging its proprietary satellite technology and ground stations, Spire collects, analyzes, and delivers near real-time data and insights for a wide range of industries, including maritime, weather, aviation, and space services. The company’s advanced data solutions enable clients to monitor global maritime traffic, improve weather forecasting, optimize aviation operations, and access precision geospatial intelligence. With a focus on addressing critical challenges such as climate change and global security, Spire empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions that positively impact the future of our planet.
Key Features For Investors
Spire Global offers a unique set of satellite-based data and analytics that provide valuable insights for hedge funds and asset managers. By leveraging its proprietary satellite constellation, Spire collects and delivers near real-time data on maritime activity, weather patterns, and aviation trends. This alternative data empowers investors to make more informed decisions by offering a comprehensive view of global economic activity and enabling them to identify potential risks and opportunities.
Key features of Spire’s data offerings for investors include:
- Maritime tracking: Spire monitors the movements of over 300,000 ships worldwide, providing data on vessel locations, routes, and port activity. This information helps investors assess global trade flows and identify potential supply chain disruptions.
- Weather data: Spire’s satellites collect atmospheric data from every point on Earth multiple times per day. This high-resolution data allows investors to anticipate and quantify the impact of weather events on various industries, such as agriculture, energy, and insurance.
- Aviation insights: By tracking aircraft locations and movements, Spire provides valuable insights into global air traffic patterns and airline performance. This data can be used to assess the health of the aviation industry and inform investment decisions.
- Customizable solutions: Spire offers tailored data packages and analytics to meet the specific needs of individual investors. By integrating its proprietary data with other relevant datasets, Spire helps investors uncover unique insights and gain a competitive edge.
Improving Investment Decisions
Spire Global’s satellite-based data and analytics provide hedge funds and asset managers with valuable insights to enhance their investment strategies. By leveraging the company’s comprehensive data on maritime activity, weather patterns, and aviation trends, investors can gain a deeper understanding of global economic activity and make more informed decisions. Spire’s alternative data enables investors to identify potential risks and opportunities, monitor sector-level trends, and incorporate real-time insights into their investment models.
Spire Global’s data empowers investors to:
- Assess the impact of weather events on industries such as agriculture, energy, and insurance
- Monitor global trade flows and identify potential supply chain disruptions by tracking maritime activity
- Evaluate the health of the aviation industry and make informed decisions based on air traffic patterns
- Benchmark companies against competitors in terms of market positioning and performance
- Identify emerging trends and shifts in market share across various sectors
- Enhance risk management and alpha generation by integrating alternative data into investment models
Planet Labs
Company Summary
Planet Labs, also known as Planet, is a leading provider of high-frequency satellite imagery and geospatial data. The company operates over 200 satellites, including PlanetScope, RapidEye, and SkySat constellations, which capture the entire Earth’s landmass daily at high resolution. This unprecedented dataset enables Planet to deliver timely, actionable insights to businesses, governments, and research institutions, helping them monitor areas of interest, validate ground information, and identify relevant trends at the speed of change. Planet’s offerings include the Planet Insights Platform, which combines global daily Earth data, derived data products, and powerful cloud-based tools to provide a dynamic, multidimensional view of the Earth’s surface. By making global change visible, accessible, and actionable, Planet empowers its customers to scale operations, increase efficiency, mitigate risks, and develop innovative solutions to address pressing challenges.
Key Features For Investors
Planet Labs offers a wealth of satellite imagery and geospatial data that provides valuable alternative data insights for hedge funds and asset managers. By capturing daily, high-resolution images of the Earth’s entire landmass, Planet Labs enables investors to monitor and analyze real-time changes in economic activity across various industries and markets.
Key features of Planet Labs’ data that investors find useful include:
- High-frequency, global coverage with over 200 satellites imaging the Earth daily
- Ability to monitor construction projects, supply chains, agricultural yields, and more
- Flexible data solutions such as basemaps, tasking, and analytic feeds
- Integration with existing financial models and workflows for enhanced decision-making
- Case studies showcasing successful use of satellite data in investment strategies
Improving Investment Decisions
Planet Labs empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make more informed investment decisions by providing high-frequency, high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial data. This alternative dataset offers a unique and timely perspective on global economic activity, enabling investors to monitor and analyze real-world changes across various industries and markets.
Planet Labs’ data enhances investment strategies in several ways:
- Daily global coverage from over 200 satellites allows investors to track assets, monitor supply chains, and identify trends at an unprecedented scale and frequency
- Flexible data solutions, such as basemaps, tasking, and analytic feeds, can be customized to meet specific investment research needs
- Integration with existing financial models and workflows enables investors to validate theses, monitor portfolio companies, and generate alpha
- Case studies demonstrate successful applications of satellite data in investment decision-making, such as monitoring retail foot traffic, tracking construction progress, and assessing natural disaster impacts
By leveraging Planet Labs’ objective and actionable insights, hedge funds and asset managers can gain a competitive edge, mitigate risks, and uncover new opportunities in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing investment landscape.
RS Metrics
Company Summary
RS Metrics is a satellite analytics company that provides asset-level Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) insights for corporates, asset managers, and ratings and index providers. By capturing data from satellite and aerial imagery, RS Metrics offers near real-time information on trends and market signals using patented AI technology, computer vision, and machine learning. The company’s products, ESGSignals® and AssetTracker, work together to provide rich asset-level climate risk data, enabling clients to measure climate risk for their portfolios and physical assets. RS Metrics’ expertise spans GIS, Asset Classification, Computing, Data Science, Financial Markets, and Thought Leadership, allowing them to analyze physical assets through a geospatial lens, identify and optimize diverse datasets, quantify financial impact, and partner with researchers to define asset-level climate metrics and modeling.
Key Features For Investors
RS Metrics offers a unique set of alternative data solutions derived from satellite imagery and advanced geospatial analytics. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as computer vision and machine learning, RS Metrics provides hedge funds and asset managers with valuable insights into various assets, industries, and markets.
Key features of RS Metrics’ data that investors find particularly useful include:
- Asset-level monitoring: Tracking physical assets such as factories, mines, and retail locations to assess real-time performance and activity levels
- ESG insights: Providing environmental, social, and governance data at the asset level, enabling investors to measure and manage portfolio climate risk
- Global coverage: Offering data and insights across a wide range of industries and geographies, giving investors a comprehensive view of the global economy
- Customizable solutions: Tailoring data offerings to meet the specific needs and interests of each client, ensuring the most relevant and actionable information is provided
- Seamless integration: Ensuring data can be easily incorporated into investors’ existing workflows and systems, enhancing decision-making capabilities without disrupting established processes
Improving Investment Decisions
RS Metrics empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make better-informed investment decisions by providing unique alternative data derived from satellite imagery and advanced geospatial analytics. By offering asset-level insights across various industries and geographies, RS Metrics enables investors to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the companies and markets they are interested in, helping them identify opportunities, manage risks, and enhance their investment strategies.
RS Metrics’ alternative data solutions help investors improve their decision-making processes in several key ways:
- Monitoring physical assets such as factories, mines, and retail locations to assess real-time performance and activity levels, providing a more accurate picture of a company’s operations and market position
- Offering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data at the asset level, enabling investors to measure and manage portfolio climate risk and make more sustainable investment choices
- Providing global coverage across a wide range of industries, giving investors a comprehensive view of the global economy and helping them identify trends and opportunities in different markets
- Tailoring data offerings to meet the specific needs and interests of each client, ensuring the most relevant and actionable information is provided to support their unique investment strategies
- Seamlessly integrating data into investors’ existing workflows and systems, enhancing decision-making capabilities without disrupting established processes, allowing for more efficient and effective use of alternative data in investment research and analysis
Spatial Risk Systems
Company Summary
Spatial Risk Systems (SRS) is an innovative data and analytics company that provides a comprehensive geospatial risk solution for institutions to accurately assess risks and opportunities at the asset location level. By integrating and analyzing a wide range of empirical data sources, including climate, carbon, environmental, and socio-economic factors, SRS helps investors better understand ESG and sustainable investing outcomes. The company’s unique approach involves standardizing hundreds of separate data schemas into a single AI-optimized knowledge graph, enabling clients to append location-based factors to their existing portfolio analytics for a multidimensional, data-driven view of their investments across industries such as finance, real estate, supply chain, and private equity.
Key Features For Investors
Spatial Risk Systems offers a powerful platform that integrates a wide array of geospatial data, enabling investors to uncover hidden risks and opportunities at the asset location level. By combining climate, carbon, environmental, and socio-economic data into a unified AI-optimized knowledge graph, the company provides institutional investors with a comprehensive toolkit to enhance their decision-making process.
Key features of Spatial Risk Systems’ offering that benefit hedge funds and asset managers include:
- Granular asset-level analysis: The platform allows investors to assess risks and opportunities at the individual asset location level, providing a more precise understanding of potential impacts on their portfolios.
- Integration of diverse data sources: Spatial Risk Systems standardizes and integrates hundreds of disparate data schemas, including climate, carbon, environmental, and socio-economic factors, into a single, cohesive knowledge graph.
- AI-powered insights: The company’s AI-optimized approach enables investors to uncover complex patterns and relationships within the data, revealing valuable insights that may not be apparent through traditional analysis.
- Seamless integration with existing workflows: The platform is designed to easily append location-based factors to clients’ existing portfolio analytics, allowing for a multidimensional, data-driven view of investments across various industries.
- Customizable and scalable solutions: Spatial Risk Systems offers tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of hedge funds and asset managers, with the ability to scale as their requirements evolve.
Improving Investment Decisions
Spatial Risk Systems empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make more informed investment decisions by integrating geospatial data and AI-driven analytics into their existing workflows. The company’s platform enables investors to assess risks and opportunities at the asset location level, providing a comprehensive view of potential impacts on their portfolios.
By leveraging Spatial Risk Systems’ solutions, hedge funds and asset managers can:
- Enhance risk management by identifying location-based risks, such as climate change, natural disasters, and socio-economic factors, that may not be apparent through traditional financial analysis
- Uncover hidden opportunities by analyzing geospatial data to spot emerging trends, changes in consumer behavior, and potential growth areas
- Improve portfolio performance by making timely and accurate decisions based on real-time, multidimensional data insights
- Gain a competitive edge by pioneering the use of alternative data and spatial finance techniques to navigate complex investment landscapes
- Seamlessly integrate location-based factors into existing portfolio analytics, enabling a holistic, data-driven approach to investment decision-making
Ursa Space Systems
Company Summary
Ursa Space Systems is a U.S.-based satellite intelligence company that provides businesses and government agencies with on-demand analytic solutions powered by a vast catalog of eleven million synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the world’s largest virtual radar satellite constellation. By leveraging this infrastructure, Ursa Space Systems enables the acquisition of imagery from anywhere in the world, day or night, and through cloud cover. The company processes and analyzes SAR data to understand earth behavior over time and delivers insights via an easy-to-use platform, offering live dashboards and custom geospatial intelligence solutions tailored to various industries, including global security, economy, maritime, and infrastructure. Ursa Space Systems’ data marketplace provides ready-made datasets extracted from over 1,000 global locations, while its upcoming Ursa Space Platform will allow users to source imagery, run custom scenarios, and perform analytics to illuminate dynamics in behavior on Earth.
Key Features For Investors
Ursa Space Systems offers a powerful alternative data solution for hedge funds and asset managers seeking to gain a competitive edge in their investment strategies. By leveraging advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery, Ursa Space Systems provides unique insights into global economic activity, enabling investors to make more informed decisions and uncover hidden opportunities.
Key features of Ursa Space Systems’ data that are particularly valuable for investors include:
- Global coverage and near real-time monitoring of key economic indicators, such as oil storage levels, mining operations, and agricultural land
- Ability to collect data through cloud cover and at night, ensuring consistent and reliable information flow
- Customizable data solutions tailored to specific investment strategies, including global oil storage monitoring, metal supply chain tracking, and agriculture insights
- Easy integration of alternative data into existing workflows and models through user-friendly APIs and data feeds
- Access to a team of experienced data scientists and analysts who provide custom research and advisory services to help extract actionable insights
Improving Investment Decisions
Ursa Space Systems empowers hedge funds and asset managers to make better-informed investment decisions by providing unique insights derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery. By leveraging Ursa’s global coverage and near real-time monitoring capabilities, investors can gain a more comprehensive understanding of economic activity across various sectors, such as oil and gas, mining, and agriculture.
Ursa Space Systems’ alternative data solutions enable investors to:
- Monitor global oil storage levels, helping to gauge supply and demand dynamics and anticipate price movements
- Track metal supply chains, including mining operations and stockpiles, to identify potential disruptions or opportunities
- Analyze crop health, acreage, and yield estimates to inform commodity trading strategies and risk management
- Integrate custom data feeds and APIs seamlessly into existing workflows and models for enhanced decision-making
- Collaborate with experienced data scientists and analysts to extract actionable insights tailored to specific investment strategies
By incorporating Ursa Space Systems’ SAR-based alternative data into their investment processes, hedge funds and asset managers can uncover hidden trends, anticipate market shifts, and make more timely and accurate decisions. This unique perspective on global economic activity enables investors to stay ahead of the curve and optimize their portfolios for maximum returns while effectively managing risk.
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