astronomy

Orbital Insight

Orbital Insight is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Orbital Insight rather than just read about it. In short: Orbital Insight is a Palo Alto, California-based geospatial analytics company. The company analyzes satellite, drone, balloon and other unmanned aerial vehicle images, including cell phone geolocation data, to study a range of human activity, and provides business and other strategic insights from the data.

Key takeaways

Orbital Insight belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Orbital Insight to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Orbital Insight from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Orbital Insight is a Palo Alto, California-based geospatial analytics company. The company analyzes satellite, drone, balloon and other unmanned aerial vehicle images, including cell phone geolocation data, to study a range of human activity, and provides business and other strategic insights from the data. James Crawford is the company's founder and chief executive officer.

History Orbital Insight was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, who earlier worked with artificial intelligence systems at Bell Labs, with Google Books and with NASA's Mars rover project. Crawford saw an opportunity to combine commercial and government satellite images with government image sets. The company's first project was analyzing the health of corn crops. In 2015, the company partnered with the World Bank to improve its poverty data, using building height and rooftop material analysis to approximate wealth. In 2016, the US intelligence committee's research arm, In-Q-Tel, and Google Ventures (GV), along with CME Group's investment arm CME Ventures, invested in the company, joining previous investors Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital and Bloomberg Beta. In May 2017, the company closed a $50M million series C round from Sequoia Capital, making it reportedly one of the most capitalized companies in the geospatial analytics industry. In October, it was reported that Orbital Insight was working with the US Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) group to develop and apply advanced algorithms to extract insights from images obtained using prototype commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) microsatellites. One goal was to improve imagery applications in poor weather or lighting conditions, for better identification of natural and manmade threats. In October, Orbital Insight partnered with commercial space imagery company DigitalGlobe to extract insights from DigitalGlobe's satellite imagery. In June 2018, Orbital Insight partnered with e-GEOS, S.p.A., a joint venture between European spaceflight services company Telespazio and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), to provide emergency flood mapping services to the U.S. government. In July, financial technology and media company Bloomberg L.P. began using Orbital Insight's geospatial vendor analysis including car counts at over 80 retailers, as part of Bloomberg's traditional client data. In September, Orbital Insight partnered with aerospace company Airbus to build a suite of geospatial analytics and tools as part of Airbus' OneAtlas program. Also in September, the company acquired Boston-based FeatureX, a company that specialized in applying computer vision to satellite images in order to extract information. Also in September, Orbital Insight partnered with Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets arm to use geospatial imagery to predict trends in energy, mining, and location intelligence fields. Also in September, the company extended a partnership with earth imaging company Planet Labs (Planet), allowing Orbital to use Planet's PlanetScope imagery and high resolution SkySat imagery of Earth. In May 2019, the company released Orbital Insight GO, an application designed to allow customers to search satellite imagery and geolocation information on their own, and analyze the images and data for insights. Also in May, Orbital Insight announced Earth Monitor, the first product that came from its Airbus satellite imagery partnership, which was a white labeling of Orbital Insight GO with additional custom work to enable integration with Airbus' proprietary satellites and imagery purchasing web flows. Orbital Insight GO was renamed Terrascope and relaunched in late 2022. In May 2024, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak's firm Privateer Space announced its acquisition of Orbital Insight, following reporting from an independent journalist six months prior that the transaction was meant to save Orbital from bankruptcy. This will add mapping and intelligence services to Privateer's space data offerings, Privateer's chief executive officer told Reuters.

Business Orbital Insight analyzes satellite, drone, balloon and other unmanned aerial vehicle images, along with phone geolocation data, by applying machine learning techniques with computer vision to extract information that can be used for business decisions. Images are tagged manually to assist with computer recognition. Applications of the technology include estimating retail revenue by studying car counts at malls, helping insurance companies estimate the extent of damages from natural disasters, gauging a country's fuel supply by counting oil storage facilities, and assisting with strategic defense applications for threat assessments. The company's Global Geospatial Crude Index (GCI) monitors millions of barrels of oil on a daily basis by tracking 25,000 external floating roof tanks. The shadows on the roofs can be used to predict how full the tanks are. Orbital Insight also acquires anonymized location data for smartphones, and uses the geolocation data to track various business activities, such as staffing levels at refineries and factories, to make economic predictions. Other tools include Orbital Insight GO, a self service satellite imagery and geospatial data analysis tool for customers. Clients include hedge funds trying to get information advantages to help their investors.

Operations Orbital Insight is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company also has US offices in Arlington, VA, and New York City, and international offices in Tokyo and London.

Financial Distress and Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency In September and October 2023 multiple articles were published stating the company was facing significant financial difficulties. While the company raised $130 million over the years it has devalued itself to $50 million to obtain a $3 million emergency loan to avoid bankruptcy. The company seem to have secured only $500 000 of the total $3 million. Slide Decks from June 2023 have shown that there were multiple Merger and Acquisition attempts that failed. The company sees its lifeline in a project called Alpha for the Indonesian' State Intelligence Agency. It vaguely mentions multiple prospective deals with Qatar Armed Forces, Israel Defense Forces, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Orbital Insight

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Orbital Insight claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Orbital Insight before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Orbital Insight ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Orbital Insight

In research: Orbital Insight appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Orbital Insight in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Orbital Insight is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2013 establishments in California, American companies established in 2013, Companies based in Palo Alto, California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Orbital Insight outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Orbital Insight in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Orbital Insight means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Orbital Insight out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Orbital Insight in simple terms?

Why does Orbital Insight matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Orbital Insight?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Orbital Insight.