SAN FRANCISCO - Spire has raised $25 million in Series A funding. Along with the financing announcement, the company revealed that it has changed its name from Nanosatisfi to Spire. Series A refers to the first round of venture funding in Silicon Valley. Companies involved in a Series A funding around typically receive preferred shares of a company's stock.
According to Spire, companies involved in the Series A funding round was led by RRE Ventures and also included Moose Capital, Quihoo, and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment. The $25 million raised will add to the $4 million that Spire has already raised since its founding in 2012.
Funds will be used to extend its satellite network and data infrastructure, and expand its team. According to a press release, Spire plans to build a network of 50 remote sensing satellites. The satellites will provide images of remote regions, particularly ocean surfaces. With 50 satellites, Spire expects to provide frequent updates and highly accurate imagery that would be used to monitor trade, weather, shipping and supply chain, illegal fishing, and maritime domain awareness.
Spire currently operates a fleet of four satellites. Early satellites were 1U cubesats, with dimensions of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and a launch mass of 1 kg. The satellites were equipped with a number of sensors including imaging sensors, a PCB temperature sensor, 3-axis magnetometer, a Geiger counter, and others. Operations are managed by an open-source Arduino computer chip.
Newer satellites, such as Lemur-1 that launched in June 2014, are 3U cubesats, which measure 30 cm x 10 cm x 10cm. These satellites have a launch mass of 4 kg. The satellite has an optical sensor with 5-meter/pixel resolution. It also has an infrared imaging system with a resolution of 1 km/pixel resolution. Lemur-1 is the prototype that the 50-satellite constellation will be based on.
Spire expects to replace its satellite fleet every two years to benefit from technology advances. This could drive a high level of satellite production going forward.
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