Dragonfly Aerospace is launching its first Imaging satellite today, EOS SAT-1. The satellite, manufactured entirely by Dragonfly Aerospace in Stellenbosch, South Africa, is the world’s first agriculture-focused satellite constellation. EOS SAT-1 will provide the agriculture and forestry industry with efficient data to advance sustainable practices and ensure profitability. In addition, the satellite will directly affect the agricultural sector by harnessing remote sensing to shape the industry and aligning with the United Nations SDG goals for development. 

The satellite will be blasted into orbit by SpaceX’s Transporter-6, which is set to depart from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today. Besides the EOS SAT-1, the Transporter-6 is expected to carry satellites for Planet Labs, Spire Global and other payloads for scientific, research and commercial customers.

In November 2022, EOS SAT-1 was shipped to SpaceX’s launch site, Cape Canaveral, Florida, for pre-launch testing ahead of the Transporter-6 mission scheduled to launch in December 2022. The satellite, which will be one of the most powerful satellites launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is the first of six satellites of the constellation scheduled to be launched in the next three years.

You can watch the launch via this link at 14:56 GMT. 

In 2021, EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA) and Dragonfly Aerospace reached an agreement to use the latter’s new 100 kg class µDragonfly satellite bus as the platform for the two DragonEye electro-optical imagers to equip the satellite to provide a 44 km swath panchromatic and multispectral imagery across 11 spectral bands at close to 1 m resolution. In addition, by launching its satellite imaging constellation, the company aims to establish a total satellite data production vertical – from direct imagery collection to processing, analysis and delivery. Furthermore, the unique approach will provide exclusive data and analytics for its customers. 

Data obtained from the EOS SAT-1 will deliver valuable information for harvest monitoring, application mapping, seasonal planning and assessments that analyse information such as soil moisture, yield prediction and biomass levels, which will, in turn, support growers in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and help them to develop sustainable agricultural methods without financial losses.