SDA selects Umbra to integrate commercial remote sensing capabilities into future space architecture

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Umbra, a space technology company specializing in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by the Space Development Agency (SDA). The contract aims to assess the integration of Umbra’s commercial remote sensing capabilities into the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a low Earth orbit satellite constellation designed to support military operations.

By integrating with the PWSA, Umbra will enable direct downlinking of observations from areas of interest to tactical nodes for processing and analysis, eliminating the need for ground terminals in conflict zones. This technology enhances military users' access to critical data and simplifies integration between space and ground systems.

"Umbra is fully aligned with SDA's mission, and we are excited to support this important investment in advancing their future architecture," said Bonnie Kean, Umbra's Director of Mission Solutions.

Related: NASA selects Umbra for their commercial satellite data acquisition (CSDA) program

In August, Umbra announced that it produced a 16-centimeter-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image, which it says is the highest-resolution commercial satellite image ever released. The company also announced that it's now able to provide customers with the highest-quality data its satellites are capable of capturing — in all formats and resolutions, including complex data better than 25 cm, for the first time.

Umbra offers single-looked spotlight mode at a 25-cm and 35-cm resolution, as well as 50-cm, 1-m resolutions, and multi-looked spotlight modes, which feature longer dwell times to reduce speckle and aid visual interpretation. All of Umbra's spotlight products can be delivered with GEC, SICD, SIDD, and CPHD formats. Umbra data is also provided with a Creative Commons license, which means users can do anything they want with it, as long as they credit Umbra as the source.