Private companies and academic institutions have begun launching earth observation satellites to capture high-resolution images. These image captures occur at varying intervals such as daily, weekly or monthly, and most of the captured intelligence is based on static images. Whilst this current system is is useful for weather monitoring, infrastructure progress tracking, and natural calamities, the data is not real-time. Founder, Ramesh Kumar Venkatesan, observed that, in the event of a natural disaster or emergency, the tasking of a satellite above a geographical location was undesirably delayed and thus situational capture and assessment was not timely. It was then that Ramesh realised that streaming high-definition videos from space was not only needed but vital. Grahaa Space is now on a mission to revolutionise Earth observation data by providing clients with access to near real-time live video using nano satellites.
Grahaa Space’s patent-pending technology enables the capture of video at any given location. It also enables the processing and compressing of video on-board the satellite in real-time, as well as the encryption and transmission of this data to the nearest ground station. Grahaa Space’s pre-screened clients would access the decrypted video feed through a highly secured AI-powered interactive web portal. Very few organisations and startups across the globe are experimenting with video capture through Earth observation satellites. This is technically challenging due to Earth’s rotation and the orbital mechanics of the satellites. Thus, Grahaa Space’s technology is unique.
The need for accurate and faster Earth observations has significantly increased demand for geospatial data. North America is anticipated to dominate the market due its abundance of research studies, investments and sophisticated space infrastructure. Meanwhile, 32% of the market’s growth will originate from the Australian Pacific by 2025. Market growth in this region is estimated to be faster than the growth of the market in Europe, North America, and South America. While there is a possibility of selling the data globally, Grahaa Space will initially concentrate on the emerging space economies in the Australian Pacific region. The serviceable and addressable market is roughly USD $14.5 billion in value. Along with disaster and emergency response, there are additional applications for the technology, including military reconnaissance, change vector analysis, live news coverage, and investigative journalism.
Grahaa Space is looking to raise its first seed round. The team plans to use these funds to launch its first technology demonstration mission and validate this technology. Grahaa is looking to raise USD $6.7 million from investors.
30 August 2019
The University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) today announced that five startups will take part in its second Venture Catalyst Space program supported by the state government’s Space Innovation Fund.
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Chief Executive Officer
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The Venture Catalyst Space program is Australia's first incubator program for startups in the space sector.
