Aistech Space

Aistech Space is a Spanish NewSpace company and thermal imaging pioneer, credited as the first company globally to fly a high-resolution thermal infrared (TIR) telescope aboard a small satellite — demonstrating that the miniaturization of long-wavelength infrared sensors could make orbital thermal imaging economically accessible beyond the large, expensive institutional satellites that had previously monopolized the capability.

The Guardian-1 satellite — launched in May 2022 aboard a SpaceX Transporter-4 rideshare mission — carried Aistech's miniaturized thermal infrared telescope payload, achieving approximately 40m ground sample distance (GSD) thermal imaging from LEO in a 3U CubeSat format. Thermal infrared imagery in the 8-12μm wavelength range reveals temperature anomalies invisible to optical and multispectral sensors: ignition-stage wildfires detectable as hot spots before they grow to catastrophic scale, industrial heat waste from petrochemical facilities and power plants, shipping vessel detection by engine heat signature regardless of weather or nighttime conditions, and agricultural crop water stress mapping via canopy temperature.

The Hydra constellation program plans 20 thermal imaging satellites funded by an €8.5 million raise, targeting operational constellation status by 2027. This scale would enable frequent global revisit for continuous wildfire monitoring (particularly critical for Mediterranean Europe and California fire seasons), methane/CO₂ emission thermal anomaly detection supporting industrial compliance and climate reporting, and maritime domain awareness applications for coast guards and navies tracking vessel traffic through heat signatures.

Aistech's ESA Copernicus contract positions the company as a data contributor to Europe's Copernicus Earth observation program — the world's most comprehensive open-access EO data infrastructure. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service relies on EO data to map disaster extents and damage zones, an application where thermal imaging provides essential nighttime and smoke-obscured fire perimeter detection capability unavailable from optical sensors. Competitors include Pixxel (hyperspectral with thermal bands), Satellogic (thermal channels on EO-1 class satellites), and Maxar (thermal on larger GEO platforms).