1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Hi, everyone in. A benf software engineer approached me and said, hey, 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: I've got an idea. Let's use computer vision and machine 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,120 Speaker 1: learning on satellite images to identify and count up solar panels. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: Whoa huge high five. No one actually knows how much 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: solar is installed around the world. Everybody has guesses, but 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: no one actually knows. So getting an actual tally would 7 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: be amazing, and checking back on a regular basis would 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: allow us to measure build out locally and globally. I 9 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 1: was in. So they built an initial algorithm and it worked. 10 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: It identified residential and commercial solar panels and filtered out 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: false positives like skylights, swimming pools and like awesome, Now 12 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: all we needed was images. Well, it turns out back 13 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: then coverage was incomplete. Satellites in orbit at the time, 14 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: we're not covering all geographies, and when they were it 15 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: was infrequent, like years between passes. So the attempt failed. 16 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:50,639 Speaker 1: We were too early, I guess. We tried a few 17 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: more times, but were stopped short by issues with image 18 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: resolution and the computing power needed to process all that imagery. 19 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: This week on the show, We've got benef technology analysts 20 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: Sorrow Raza here to tell us how the satellite industry 21 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: has caught up. Now over a thousand small satellites scan 22 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: the Earth all day, every day and are matched by 23 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: several companies specializing in turning what those satellites see into 24 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: usable data, making our use case and countless other as possible. 25 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: Our discussion is based on a report titled Tiny Satellites 26 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: Spaces Next Frontier being IF. Users can get this report 27 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: on bf dot com, to BEANF mobile app and the 28 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: Bloomberg terminal. As a reminder, BENIF does not provide investment 29 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: or strategy advice, and you can hear the full disclaimer 30 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: at the end of the show. I'm Mark Taylor and 31 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: you're listening to switch on to BENF podcast. Sara, Hi, 32 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: thanks for joining us, Thank you for having me. Can 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: you start us off with a very basics, Just what 34 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: is a small satellite? So a small satellite is basically 35 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: anything below five DRAMs. Within that there are different kind 36 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: of variations. So you've got micro satellites that are below 37 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: a hundred kilograms, nano satellites that are below ten kilograms, 38 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: and you've even got pico satellites that are below one ram. 39 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: So why are they out there? Why are we seeing 40 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: these emerged into the market. So I think that's for 41 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: a variety of reasons. We have this demand for more data. 42 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: We want more data to analyze, we want more data 43 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: to visualize different things on maps and satellite imagery, so 44 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: I think the demand for this data is one of 45 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: the main reasons. And then something that you know has 46 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: kind of allowed this to happen is the continued improvement 47 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: in the miniaturization of subsystems sensus miniature computers, and a 48 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,959 Speaker 1: lot of this innovation is obviously coming from adjacent sectors 49 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: such as the smartphone industry and consumer electronics. So it 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: seems like there's kind of two sides of this that 51 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: are pushing it. There's an improvement in technology that are 52 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: enabling the satellites to be made and sent into space, 53 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: and we'll get to that, But the other part is 54 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: a hunger there'st for more data. The third part, I 55 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: guess is though those two things are pushing to to 56 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: what end? Like what are people using this, you know, 57 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: new data for. So it's it's actually pretty interesting in 58 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: terms of the different use cases. It's based on the 59 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: different technologies, right, So you've got things like satellite imagery 60 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: that can help with precision agriculture for things like crop production, 61 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: soil seeding zones. This kind of optical imagery can also 62 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: help with fixed asset monitoring, such as you know for 63 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: oil and gas, well paid construction, change detection, pipeline maintenance. Again, 64 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: that can also have applications in you know, for renewables, 65 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: for the construction of wind farms, solar parks. I mean 66 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: that's just one technology, right, that's just using miniaturized cameras 67 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: on satellites. Can you help us out with that to 68 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: visualize what is actually happening here when you say it's 69 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: healthy to monitor of fixed asset and just fixed asset 70 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: could be like an oil well or a power plant 71 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: or something like that. How does it actually work? Obviously 72 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: you may be familiar with large geo station right satellites. 73 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: These are you know, thousands kilometers above the Earth surface 74 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: and they kind of hover in a in a stationary orbit. 75 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: These kind of tiny satellites allbit in something called a 76 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: polar orbit. So you might have seen images of tons 77 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: of satellites in a ring around the Earth, and these 78 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: operate in a constellation form rather than independent large satellites. 79 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: The crucial difference which allows for a high revisit rate 80 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: over the same spots on the Earth and ultimately global coverage. 81 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: I remember a few years ago we were looking at 82 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: a few years ago, it's like six years ago now, 83 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: we were looking at getting some imagery to look at 84 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: solar panel build out. But the problem back then was 85 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: we would only get revisiting of a particular area with 86 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: the satellite technology available once every six months seven months. 87 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: But we've revisited it recently and the coverage can be daily. 88 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: Is that kind of what you're getting out here? Yeah, exactly, 89 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: So you can even get twice daily coverage to And 90 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: bear in mind this is dependent on the number of 91 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,359 Speaker 1: these tiny satellites that you have in these rings around 92 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: the Earth. The more satellites you have in one of 93 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: these rings, the higher their revisit rate. So there's a 94 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: bunch of satellites in rings that essentially create a scanner 95 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: around the Earth exactly. And on top of these rings, 96 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: they all are usually flown in a low Earth orbit. 97 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: But if I wanted to launch a constellation of satellites myself, 98 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: is there space for me? So that's a great question. 99 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: There is space, the actual space, and space is a 100 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: bad one. There's there's a lot of space and space 101 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: so that there isn't much regulation currently on moving away 102 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: dead satellites, and E s A and NASA try to 103 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: regulate as much as they can. Everyone's main question is 104 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: once these small satellites finish their end of life, they 105 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: usually because they're so small, just burn up in the atmosphere. 106 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: So is there something on them to kick them out 107 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: of orbit in going into a descent. Most of these 108 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: CubeSats do have propulsion systems, and what they'll do is 109 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: they'll use their last little bit of fuel to propel 110 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: them into the atmosphere. So can you describe the basics 111 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: of what exactly is the small satellite value chain? I 112 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: would say there are roughly kind of seven stages to 113 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: this value chain. So you start with the satellite design. 114 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: That satellite design can usually come from the satellite operator. 115 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: Then you've got kind of the sensor manufacturing. Now, this sensor, 116 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: you know, can be from a research institute, a university, 117 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: a small company that's well versed in sense of manufacturing 118 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: for temperature atmospheric composition. Then you've got the satellite manufacturing, 119 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: which again is usually outsourced to a manufacturing company. Then 120 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: you've got launch services, ground operation, data and analytics and 121 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: end user sales. Now, what we're seeing with this value 122 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: chain is a lot of vertical integration. So operators like 123 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: Planet Inspire actually integrate all stages of the value chain 124 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: except launch services. Have they started data integration or data 125 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: analysis as well. Yes, So obviously we know that there 126 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: are separate companies like Orbital Insight, Descartet Labs, Chaos who 127 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: look at data analytics specifically, But a lot of these 128 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,239 Speaker 1: satellite operators have seen right, instead of just providing people 129 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: with the raw data, why don't we just analyze it ourselves, 130 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: hire a couple of data scientists and do this ourselves. 131 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: Is there consolidation amongst the startups right now, or you know, 132 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: somebody like Lackheed or some other incombment going to come 133 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: in and buy up all these startups. What's really interesting 134 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: is we're seeing a lot of consolidation M and A 135 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: in the manufacturing stage of the value chain. So we're 136 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: seeing these large aerospace companies like Boeing, air Bus, Lockheed, 137 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: Northrop Grumman. We're seeing them acquiring some of the leading 138 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: manufacturers specifically in tiny satellites. So some of these startups Boeing, 139 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: you know, has got Millennium Space Systems Airbus took sorry 140 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: satellite technology, Northrop Grumman took orbital A, t K max 141 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: A took Space Systems Laurel, and these kind of startups 142 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: were really coming up with innovative techniques to manufacture CubeSats 143 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: and nanosatellites on a large scale. So do you see 144 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: there's the future of this industry that it's just going 145 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: to be consolidated amongst the old in comments, or do 146 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: you think these startups will grow into fully fledged competitors 147 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: to those other players. I think in terms of satellite 148 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: operators such as planets by a Satellogic Capella, I do 149 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: see those growing. In terms of the manufacturing companies, I 150 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: see a lot of those getting acquired by larger aerospace companies. 151 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: And my reasoning for that is that the satellite operators 152 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: have a unique skill set and engineering capability that they've 153 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: kind of honed in on on their niche kind of 154 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: area g h G SAT for greenhouse gas emissions, monitoring, 155 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: blue field for methane more monitoring, state logic for optical sensors. 156 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: Whereas with the manufacturing startups there in a field that's 157 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 1: extremely competitive with these large aerospace companies really dominate eating 158 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: of the industry in the manufacturing a bit of the 159 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: value chain. A lot of those are just getting acquired, 160 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: you know, sort of every sort of month. Is there 161 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 1: a theme in the types of companies that are getting 162 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: brought every month? So I think the acquisitions that are 163 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: happening are of these tiny startups that are manufacturing cubes ats. 164 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: So the startups that are getting miniaturized components from various 165 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: subsectors and creating these these CubeSats on a mass sort 166 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 1: of production scale. Let's change directions and move into large 167 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,839 Speaker 1: Can you tell us how these things get up into 168 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: space in the first place. As a child the eighties, 169 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: you know, I'm used to seeing big rackets go up 170 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: in the space every once in a while, But apparently 171 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: that is not the case. That these things fly up 172 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: in in droves quite often, Is that right? Yeah? So, 173 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: I think one of the largest subsectors of the space 174 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: industry that has changed the most is the launch industry. 175 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: In parallel with these developments in satellites and senses, there 176 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 1: are a bunch of innovations with in launch vehicles, and 177 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: I think this is what's led to not only a 178 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: higher number of commercially procured launches, but also a higher 179 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,959 Speaker 1: number of satellites launched in general. And I think that's 180 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: due to the fact that these launch vehicles are now 181 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: becoming reusable, especially stage one of the rockets and ride sharing, 182 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: as these satellites are so tiny, you can fit many 183 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: satellites onto one launch vehicle. And I think in twenty 184 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: seventeen a hundred and four satellites were launched on one rocket, 185 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: which is, you know, the highest in history. There was Planet, right, yeah, 186 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: so the majority of those were Planet from an Indian 187 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: polar launch vehicle. But that there are companies like SpaceX 188 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: who have created things like the Small Sat ride share program, 189 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: a specialized program for these startups with these small satellites 190 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 1: who you know, just need to get two cube SATs 191 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: weighing five kilograms each up into space, who want to 192 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: just jump on a rocket and pay a pretty small price. 193 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: So the barrier to entry has really really come down, 194 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: it seems, definitely. And you know that this innovation has 195 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,719 Speaker 1: also seen new companies such as space Flight who kind 196 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: of organize everything from you know, if you've let's say 197 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: you have a satellite, right, you have a five kilogram 198 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: satellite with a temperature sensor on it. You've cre you've 199 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: created it, you kind of outsourced the manufacturing. It didn't 200 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: cost you too much, and you want to get this 201 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: into space. Someone like space Flight will do all of 202 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: the launch services for you, and you kind of go 203 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: to them. You give them your satellite, you pay a price, 204 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: and they'll organize the whole launch and put you on 205 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: a on a vehicle. So it's kind of like a 206 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: an airline ticket market. Yeah, is it working. Yeah, it's 207 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: working pretty well. In my uninitiated perspective, it seems like 208 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: there wouldn't be enough demand for a business like space 209 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: flight to be viable. But it seems like you're telling 210 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: me otherwise that there are plenty of satellites to go 211 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: up on, plenty of rockets, and there's a lot to 212 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: be organized. I think that the reason why there is 213 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: a huge demand for it is again because the capabilities 214 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: of these companies don't extend to the launch services industry. 215 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: It's historically been an industry dominated by military and government. 216 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: It's historically not been a commercial industry. SpaceX is new 217 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: Rocket Lab, all becks. These are brand new commercialized companies 218 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: that are entering this industry for the first time, so 219 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 1: not many companies are well versed in the area of 220 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: launching something into space. So what's the next big thing 221 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: in this sector? What are you most excited about seeing. 222 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 1: I think I'm most excited about seeing the new technologies 223 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: that are coming from these miniaturized satellites. You know, the 224 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: more time goes on, the more technological improvements that are 225 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: miniaturization of subsystems, the more we'll be able to do 226 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: with these satellites. And I'm most excited to see if 227 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: we can get minute by minute coverage, if we can 228 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: get five minute coverage, yeah, that would be amazing. Would 229 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: be Another really exciting innovation that's happening is on the 230 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: data analytics side of things, which isn't really talked about 231 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 1: that much. It's everyone loves space and everyone talks about rockets, 232 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: you know, going into space. But you know, either side 233 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: of the launch industry, the manufacturing industry is seeing a 234 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: lot of digitalization and mass production, three D printing, advanced 235 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: materials being used, you know, nanodiamond coatings or on night 236 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: triede things like that. I think I think a lot 237 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: of the new materials coming out are really interesting. And 238 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: then at the other end of the value chain, you've 239 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: got data analytics where like we discussed before, there are 240 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: a lot of companies just in this area who are 241 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: investing in data scientists and looking at how you can 242 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: create cool you know, mL models and applying different algorithms 243 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: to analyze this vast amount of data. So the hardware 244 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: is getting better, but the software is getting better as well, 245 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: which will lead to more use cases and more that 246 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: we can do with this data. So it's no secret 247 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: that b NF itself is new to this area to 248 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: to looking at space. How did it start? I guess 249 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: why did we start looking into space? And can you 250 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: tell us a bit about the approach to the research. 251 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: BENF has historically not covered space. The reason why I 252 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: think that we're going into this kind of these kind 253 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: of endeavors now is to push the boundaries of being efforts. 254 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: See what's really on the edges now. Space is an 255 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: industry that is related to all of the current sectors 256 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: that we currently look at, wind, polar oil, gas, I 257 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: mean even from simple things like monitoring oil and gas operations, 258 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: wind turbines using IoT sensors to track predictive maintenance. These 259 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: small satellites are related to everything we already cover. Then 260 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: on top of that, benef could also leverage the satellite 261 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: data for our own research. The manufacturing industry for satellites 262 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: is growing and using things like three D printing additive manufacturing, 263 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: which ties into our advanced materials team. So I think 264 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: there's a lot of crossover and it was just waiting 265 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: to happen. In terms of what I found during my research, 266 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: I a pretty surprised at how little publicly available data 267 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: there there is on satellites and on the space industry 268 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: in general. I'm guessing that because of the history, if 269 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: it being mostly military government, funder didn't necessarily have to disclose. Yeah, exactly, 270 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: And I think that's definitely changing. I think next year, 271 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: and you know, the next five years, will will have 272 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: a lot more data given this. You know, just even 273 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: things like the launch industry has now become a bit 274 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: more commercialized and the manufacturing industry. There are a ton 275 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: of startups evolving in in this space that are trying 276 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: to specialize in tiny cube SATs and in technologies, and 277 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: you know, even in the data analytics side. Given that 278 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: this whole sort of value chain is transitioning from military 279 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: and governmental to commercial, I think we'll we'll definitely have 280 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: a lot more data in the next five years. So 281 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: following under that, how did you actually end up getting 282 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: the data you needed? So it was a tricky one. Um. 283 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: I definitely had to reach out to a bunch of 284 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: different companies and try and gather as much data as 285 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: possible from what they were willing to disclose. As the 286 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: industry is so private and you know these companies that 287 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: are emerging are all startups, it was definitely difficult to 288 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: get a lot of this data. So imagine going forward 289 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: it could be a bit of a slog Yes, yeah, 290 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: I think I think the industry definitely needs to be 291 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: a bit more transparent, and I think that will naturally 292 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: happen given how commercialize it's becoming. All sectors start off 293 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: like this. I remember back in the in the early 294 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: days of any f we this is the exact approach 295 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: we took with wind and solar and geothermal and carbon 296 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: captured data. You know, it just didn't exist and so 297 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: somebody has to go out and collect it. So you're 298 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: not only on the forefront of technology here, but you're 299 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: on the forefront of research in terms of analyzing a 300 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: new market. Can we go into the industry growth just 301 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: a little bit. Some people listening might think, like, all 302 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: these startups are emerging, they're sending up more and more satellites. 303 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: There's got to be a point where there's just too 304 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: much you know, space junk up there. In terms of 305 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: space junk, there really are three main options here. There 306 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: are some companies like Leo Apps who are investigating things 307 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: like collision avoidance and signing contracts with a bunch of 308 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: small satellite operators to monitor this for them, which obviously 309 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: in the long term saves them, you know, a lot 310 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: of money in case there's satellites crash into each other. 311 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: Are they attempting to be an air traffic controller? Yeah, 312 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: pretty much. Yeah, I mean that there doesn't seem to 313 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: be too many of those in the industry. So we 314 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: have these constellations that are making scanners around the Earth, 315 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: and I'm using the camera to look down at the 316 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: Earth to gather data. But I think you alluded to 317 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: in the report at least you mentioned several times in 318 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: the report that there are several different technologies available on 319 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,360 Speaker 1: these cube sets and small satellites that go beyond cameras. 320 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: Can you tell us about some of those and what 321 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: those might be used for a lot of these satellite 322 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: operators and companies in the space have found their niche. 323 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: So you've got companies like Capella Space Sat a Loogic Planet, 324 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: which are, like you say, focusing on these miniaturized cameras. 325 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: But then you've got a bunch of other companies like 326 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: Spire who are really leading into terms of atmospheric monitoring. 327 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: So some other technologies include atmospheric sensors that measure water pressure, temperature, humidity, 328 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: and these can be obviously really helpful to insurance companies 329 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: and for monitoring weather, daily weather and pretty accurate. You've 330 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: got other technologies including IoT sensors which can be useful 331 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: for the smart agriculture, predictive maintenance of wind turbines, vehicle 332 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: accidents were kind of fourth other main area for these 333 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,639 Speaker 1: technologies would be geolocations. So you've got a I S 334 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: and a D S B sensors that's kind of a 335 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: use for tracking I somehow can't get past the demand 336 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 1: side of this that it seems to me like these 337 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: companies are launching these satellites with all these capabilities and 338 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: then are going to these companies and saying, hey, insurance company, 339 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:54,199 Speaker 1: you could use this you want to buy it? Is 340 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: it pushers at pool? You know that the insurance companies 341 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: are saying, actually, I really could use some better weather data. Hey, 342 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: how that you go along to satellite? Is there one 343 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: that's winning there or is it equal? How should I 344 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: think about this? I think that it varies. That demands 345 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: from customers is a lot stronger, right, And that's where 346 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: these satellite operators have come in and said, we see 347 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: this need for more data. For example of insurance companies, 348 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: if you just take the number of fraudulent claims per year, 349 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: looking at that, they obviously want to reduce that. And 350 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: the answer to that is more more data. A great 351 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: way of getting that data is to get this data 352 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: from a constellation of satellites monitoring the Earth every single day. 353 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: So I think that in terms of a push and pull, 354 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: it definitely varies. At the same time, these satellite operators 355 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: have noticed a kind of I guess, a gap in 356 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: the market where if you have great engineering capabilities, perhaps 357 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: from other endeavors that you've you've gone for, and you 358 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: have that capability to create these you know, these nano 359 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: satellites with these materials, there is a market. So where 360 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: is the technology coming from Is it coming from startups 361 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: you know that are just getting these ideas, or is 362 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: it coming from large corporates that have already been in 363 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: the space industry for decades. It definitely varies. What's common is, 364 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: for example, a university research lab will design a sensor, 365 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: for example, to measure things like atmospheric composition or space radiation. Now, 366 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 1: usually this kind of research facility or university is is 367 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: definitely well versed in sense of manufacturing and scientific instruments 368 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: with the sensor. However, they probably don't have the expertise 369 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: to build a satellite and launch a satellite operator satellite 370 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: in that case. What we've been seeing is a lot 371 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: of universities and research labs and and even companies kind 372 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: of building out this sensor. I mean an example is 373 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: blue Field who have a mething sensor and will outsource 374 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: everything else with another satellite operator, and that would be 375 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: as a hosted payload. How common is that where you 376 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: have a satellite that has multiple technologies from multiple companies, 377 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: So it's becoming more and more common. Companies like Planet 378 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: Inspire initially started off with just their own As they've 379 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: kind of grown in the industry, they are now doing 380 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: a lot more hosted payloads from various other startups, various 381 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: research institutes who have these specialized sensors, specialized scientific instruments, 382 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: but no capability of engineering and launching. It seems to 383 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: be the mark of an industry that is maturing. You know. 384 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: It seems like in the very beginning stages of something, 385 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,840 Speaker 1: you'd have everything in house, everything home built, right, and 386 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 1: as you grow, you'd have companies specializing, and then you'd 387 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: have other companies that just bring things together and get 388 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,719 Speaker 1: things going. Yeah, so we are actually seeing more vertical 389 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: integration within satellite companies in the industry. A bunch of 390 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: companies are actually fully vertically integrated, obviously excluding launch and 391 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 1: launch services, but you know, all the way through from 392 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: senser manufacturing through to satellite manufacturing obviously outsourcing launch, but 393 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:11,199 Speaker 1: then ground station operation to the data and analytics, which is, 394 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: you know, a really big emerging subsector. You've got companies 395 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: in data analytics, specifically only analyzing satellite data without operating 396 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: their own constellations. From what I've seen, there are several 397 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: of those that have popped up in just recent years. 398 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 1: Right when we first started looking at this as as 399 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: ben if there weren't that many companies doing this. They 400 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: were all launching and then providing imagery and then leaving 401 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 1: you kind of on your own to do the analysis. 402 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: But in the last couple years, there's been a lot 403 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: of companies that I've seen that have been offering to 404 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: analyze the data force and just give us a data 405 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: stream at the end of the day, right exactly. And 406 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: there are there are countless companies. There's Orbital inside Descarte 407 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: Labs that there are. There are a bunch of companies 408 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: in that area just kind of pulling data from different 409 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: satellite operators. So they might pull atmospheric data combined with imagery, 410 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: mind with ragar data and putting this all together on 411 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: a platform, analyzing it for you and offering these kind 412 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: of packages based on different layers of data. And you know, 413 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: a lot of these satellite operators are also going into 414 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: data and analytics with their own platforms. What's next in 415 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,120 Speaker 1: your line of research in this area. I really want 416 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: to delve into the industry changes within manufacturing these things, 417 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,959 Speaker 1: because ultimately these need to be designed faster, they need 418 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: to be built faster, and they need to be launched faster. 419 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: And you know that kind of all comes from a 420 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: speedy manufacturing process. So I think looking at that process 421 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: and seeing how that's changing, and and you know, how 422 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 1: we utilizing advanced materials in this process. What sort of 423 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: carbon composites are we using? How are we using three 424 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: D printing to make these satellite components. I think we'll 425 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: leave it there, Sarah, thanks for joining us, Thank you 426 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: for having me. Bloomberginnia is a service provided by Bloomberg 427 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: Finance LP and its affiliates. This recording does not constitute, 428 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: nor should it be construed as investment advice, investment recommendations, 429 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: or a recommendation as to an investment or other strategy. 430 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: Bloomberginny F should not be considered as information sufficient upon 431 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: which to base an investment decision. 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