Hyperspectral satellite startup Pixxel nabs $100M investment
Pixxel Space Technologies Inc., an India-based developer of Earth observation satellites, has raised $100 million in funding.
Singapore’s Temasek wealth fund and space technology investor Seraphim led the Series C round. Pixxel stated in its announcement of the deal today that the two firms were joined by several other institutional investors. The company’s total outside funding now stands at $192 million.
Objects on the Earth’s surface reflect light from the sun back into space. Imaging satellites such as those made by Pixxel use the reflected light to take photos. Furthermore, they can determine the chemical composition of the objects they photograph. That’s possible because every material reflects sunlight in a different way, which gives it a unique optical signature detectable from space.
Last year, Pixxel launched its first six imaging satellites aboard a pair of SpaceX Corp. rockets. They form a constellation called Firefly that the company says can provide six times higher resolution than most earlier alternatives. According to Pixxel, they identify objects’ chemical composition using an approach called hyperspectral imaging.
