Educating customers may be half the battle for nascent hyperspectral sector

PARIS – A significant challenge for hyperspectral satellite operators is alerting potential customers to promising applications, according to speakers at the Summit on Earth Observation Business here.

Hyperspectral datasets can reveal atmospheric greenhouse gases, identify stores of lithium and other high-value minerals, measure nitrogen in agricultural fields, and pinpoint the telltale signs of biological, nuclear and chemical weapons. But few people know anything about hyperspectral imaging.

“It’s quite an exotic thing,” Jarkko Antila, CEO of Finnish startup Kuva Space, said Sept. 18. “Approximately zero percent of my population knows about it, which limits the number of customers.”

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