Artist’s rendition of satellites orbiting the Earth – rottenman/123RF Stock Photo
We’re looking at the latest Earth Observation (EO) satellite developments around the globe this year, with reports from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe.
Africa
Starting in Africa, earlier this week the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) launched the Kenya Earth Observation (EO) Data Sharing Framework 2026. Working with the British High Commission in Kenya, Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability, and VIFFA Consult, this framework provides a single platform for sharing EO data between academic, and commercial organisations, alongside government agencies to support collaboration. It is hoped that this will enhance the use of EO data.
As part of the implementation, KSA will set up the National Earth Observation Data Council (NEODC), as the central body responsible for coordinating and overseeing the management and use of EO data in the country. These actions are part of KSA’s strategic plan for 2023–2027, aimed at strengthening governance structures for space-related data and technologies.
America
Moving to America with the company Satellogic, who has announced plans for their new constellation of satellites, which will be called Merlin. Unlike their existing Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellations, Merlin is a high-resolution optical satellite featuring ten spectral bands – aligned to those used by Sentinel-2 – coupled with artificial intelligence based on-board processing.
The first Merlin is scheduled to launch towards the end of the year, and the full constellation is expected to operational at some point in 2027. Once fully operational, this constellation will be able to offer daily global mapping at one-metre spatial resolution, and according to Satellolgic’s CEO it will close a capability gap to offer persistent global coverage at a high spatial resolution. The data is expected to be used for applications including defence, civil government, environmental monitoring, agriculture, forestry management, infrastructure and energy support.
Asia
Moving onto Asia with Japanese company Synspective Inc., who successfully launched its latest SAR satellite using Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand on the 20th March. The satellite, known as StriX-6, has an X-band SAR and offers a spatial resolution of between one metre and three metres depending on mode, alongside a swath width of between ten and thirty kilometres. The StriX constellation is planned to have 25 satellites, and this was the sixth in the series to be launched. Like Satellogic, Synspective’s goal is to deliver more persistent global SAR coverage to government and commercial customers.
Europe
News from around the world ends in Europe with Russia, who have begun enhancing thier space capabilities with the successful launch of sixteen Rassvet satellites last week, which are the Russian version of Starlink to provide space-based broadband. Further launches are expected throughout this year towards the ambition of having 300 satellites in the constellation.
According to a United States Space Force official, they are expecting Russia to also increase their EO capabilities, as they currently only have around one hundred EO satellites in orbit. Russia is concerned about falling behind China and the United States.
Summary
EO is a global industry and the news this week demonstrating the range of activities that are happening around the world, meaning that there is always something new within the sector.
