Earth Observant

Earth Observant (EOI Space) is a Los Angeles-based Earth observation satellite developer founded in 2020 that is pioneering the use of large deployable optical apertures to achieve very high-resolution (VHR) imagery from satellites significantly smaller and cheaper than conventional VHR imaging spacecraft. Conventional VHR satellites like WorldView-3 or Pléiades Neo achieve 30-50 cm resolution using large (1.1 m) fixed telescope mirrors that require a heavy (2,000-3,500 kg) satellite bus to house and stabilize them.

Earth Observant's approach instead uses a foldable, deployable primary mirror — a lightweight segmented or flexible optical aperture that collapses for launch in a small satellite form factor and then deploys in orbit to achieve the large aperture diameter needed for sub-50 cm resolution imaging. This mirrors the approach of space telescopes like JWST (its 6.5 m deployable gold-coated beryllium mirror) but applied to Earth observation. A deployable 1 m class mirror on a 200 kg satellite would achieve equivalent resolution to fixed-aperture satellites three to five times heavier, dramatically reducing launch costs and manufacturing time.

The enabling technologies Earth Observant is developing include precision actuated mirror segment alignment, wavefront sensing and correction to maintain optical figure stability in the thermal cycling of LEO, and advanced image reconstruction algorithms that can compensate for residual aberrations. Earth Observant is backed by space-focused investors and has received SBIR Phase II funding from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which has a direct need for lower-cost VHR imaging capability to expand the number of domestic commercial providers it can source imagery from under the EnhancedView and Electra contract vehicles.