WASHINGTON — Earth imaging company Satellogic announced May 4 that it has signed a contract with SpaceX to launch 68 more satellites as it continues to build its constellation.
Satellogic said the multiple launch agreement with SpaceX reserves capacity for 68 satellites in an unspecified number of future SpaceX launches. The companies did not disclose the terms of the agreement, and Satellogic did not answer questions about when the launches will take place and whether they will be dedicated or ride-sharing missions.
Satellogic announced a similar deal with SpaceX in January 2021 covering four rideshare launches. Satellogic flew four satellites on the Transporter-2 rideshare mission in June 2021 and five on the Transporter-4 mission that launched on April 1.
“Today’s announcement ensures that we will be able to continue launching our satellites as they are produced and that we will remain on track to collect every square meter of the Earth’s surface every week in 2023,” said Emiliano Kargieman, CEO and co-founder of Satellogic, in a statement announcing the contract.
The contract announcement comes a day after Satellogic, which went public in January through a merger with a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), released its financial results for 2021. The company reported revenue of $4.2 million, a net loss of $117.7 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of -$30.7 million. When Satellogic announced its merger with SPAC in July 2021, it projected revenues of $7 million and Adjusted EBITDA of -$32 million for 2021.
Kargieman said in the earnings announcement that the company plans to launch up to 12 more satellites this year, bringing its constellation to 34 satellites. The company has a goal of operating 200 or more satellites by 2025 to provide daily global remapping, and is building a factory in the Netherlands that will be able to produce 25 satellites per quarter by the third quarter of 2023.
That work is backed by proceeds from the SPAC merger, which provided Satellogic with $168 million. “Capital will further position Satellogic to remap the entire Earth’s surface at sub-meter resolution, creating unprecedented data analytics and business applications,” said Rick Dunn, Satellogic’s chief financial officer, in the earnings release. “We continue to expect rapid revenue growth in the near term.”