Umbra-SAR

Umbra is a California based startup founded in 2015 by David Langan and Gabe Dominocielo. Umbra’s micro-satellites are equipped with a powerful Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, capable of seeing both day and night and through dense clouds to generate the highest-resolution radar images ever sold on the commercial market. The first satellite, Umbra-SAR 2001, was launched in June, 2021 and was designed to capture snapshot imagery with a resolution of 25 centimeters over a 16 square km area. In January 2022 Umbra was selected by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for the first Focus Area, Commercial Radar, under the agency’s new Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Strategic Commercial Enhancements effort. The NRO selected also other commercial radar imagery providers, like Capella Space and ICEYE. In October, 2022 DARPA selected Umbra to join the Distributed Radar Image Formation Technology (DRIFT) Program. The program uses commercially developed satellites to support government goals with a focus on formation flying and joint collection from small SAR satellites to collect synchronized monostatic and bistatic data.

Images: Umbra