28 October 2021 at IAC in Dubai: Dragonfly Aerospace is pleased to announce that it will deliver the first satellite for the EOS AgriSat constellation. The launch of the first satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is planned for 2022.
Dragonfly Aerospace has concluded an agreement with EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA), a global provider of AI-powered satellite imagery analytics, to use its new 100kg class µDragonfly satellite bus as the platform for the two DragonEye electro-optical imagers that the two parties previously agreed in 2020.
The satellite will provide a wide swath and large area coverage that is particularly useful for the commercial agricultural industry. The µDragonfly bus was an important selection for EOSDA as the attitude control system of the platform provides the stability and accuracy needed to support their precision imaging requirements. The µDragonfly bus also has a highly capable power system that can support the significant imaging and downlinking that is intended for the constellation. The satellite bus provides high data rate transmitters which are needed to download the large volumes of data that EOSDA plans to capture each day.
The satellite will be equipped with the two high resolution DragonEye imagers from the Dragonfly imager portfolio. The side-by-side payloads will allow for the creation of 44km swath images in 11 spectral bands at close to 1m resolution. The satellite is designed for a five-year lifetime and provides full redundancy on all components.
Image data obtained using Dragonfly’s satellite will be used for numerous cases of agriculture monitoring, such as harvest monitoring, yield prediction, variable-rate application mapping, soil moisture and biomass assessment, season planning and more.
“This is an important contract for Dragonfly Aerospace that allows us to demonstrate our capabilities not only in high performance electro-optical imagers but also in full imaging satellite systems. We are very pleased that our customer EOS Data Analytics has shown the confidence in our team to select us for providing the satellite bus after working with us for the past year on the imager contract” said Dragonfly Aerospace CEO Bryan Dean.
At the beginning of 2021 EOS Data Analytics announced plans to launch the EOS AgriSat constellation. The constellation will comprise seven optical satellites and will be launched into low Earth orbit by 2025.
One of the key tasks of the constellation will be monitoring of farmlands, which makes the constellation the first in the history of satellite monitoring focused on agriculture. By launching its own satellite imaging constellation, the company aims to establish a full satellite data production vertical – from direct imagery collection to processing, analysis and delivery. The unique approach will provide exclusive data and analytics for its customers.
“EOS Data Analytics is happy to announce the details of the first satellite launch of the EOS AgriSat constellation and an expanded deal with Dragonfly Aerospace. We have been planning the EOS AgriSat constellation for some time. Now, we can turn these plans into reality by partnering with Dragonfly Aerospace for the full imaging satellite. EOSDA did a thorough review of all available satellite bus suppliers and, in the end, selected Dragonfly Aerospace as the best performing partner for this mission”, said EOS Data Analytics COO Roman Medvediev.
Both Dragonfly Aerospace and EOS Data Analytics belong to Noosphere Ventures’s portfolio of space companies. Max Polyakov established Noosphere Ventures fund to develop a vertically integrated ecosystem of space businesses capable of delivering full-cycle solutions to its customers. The fund brings together innovative companies from various areas of space exploration, which allows them to retain control over launch vehicles, communications, space earth observation, ground stations and data analysis.