Satlantis Microsats

Satlantis is a Spanish Earth observation company founded in 2013 in Bilbao, Basque Country, specializing in high-resolution optical imaging microsatellites and the compact camera systems that enable sub-meter resolution from very small platforms. The company's core innovation is miniaturizing Earth observation optics — specifically, fitting a 50 cm ground sampling distance (GSD) optical payload into a platform weighing under 100 kg, dramatically reducing the cost of high-resolution EO compared to traditional 500 kg-class imagers.

Satlantis's flagship product line is the iSIM (integrated Space Imaging Module) camera series, which packages telescope, detector, and processing electronics into a camera module compact enough for microsatellites and even SmallSat buses from third-party manufacturers. The iSIM-170 achieves 90 cm GSD from 550 km altitude with a swath width of ~12 km, while the larger iSIM-90 system reaches 50 cm GSD. These cameras have been selected by international satellite programs including MAIA (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols), a NASA/ASI mission designed to study aerosol particles and their climate effects, making Satlantis one of the rare European smallsat optics companies with NASA mission heritage.

Beyond MAIA, Satlantis has developed or flown imaging systems for Spanish institutions and international commercial operators. The company participates in ESA's FAST/SBAG programs and has partnered with prime satellite manufacturers seeking off-the-shelf optical payload solutions. Applications range from urban planning and infrastructure monitoring to precision agriculture (field-level crop health assessment), defense reconnaissance, and disaster response imaging.

Bilbao's position as a Basque tech cluster — with regional government support through SPRI and access to ETSI aerospace engineering talent from nearby universities — has supported Satlantis's growth. The company competes with Airbus Pléiades Neo (GSD 30 cm, traditional scale) on resolution quality, and with other compact imaging specialists like Satellogic and BlackSky on microsatellite price points.