The brief

Analyst view

• Released a 16 cm radar image in 2023, which it called the sharpest commercial satellite image ever released.
• Sole-source NRO contract (Aug 2026) and NOAA data contract (Sept 2026), after delivering 100,000+ images to NRO.
• Builds satellites in-house in a 50,000 sq ft Santa Barbara factory; shares free imagery via an open data program.

Technical approach

As reported

Radar

Its own light source

Umbra's satellites send microwave pulses and record the echoes, so they image day or night and through cloud, smoke and rain.

Spotlight

Staring longer for sharper images

By steering the beam to stay on one spot as it passes, the satellite gathers a longer 'synthetic' antenna and resolves details down to 16 cm.

Tandem pairs

Two satellites, one picture

Satellites launched in pairs fly in formation; one transmits and both receive, giving multi-angle (bistatic) images and moving-target detection.

In-house build

Designed and built under one roof

Umbra designs and builds its spacecraft and parts itself and now sells that hardware to other operators.

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