A company formed by two longtime Santa Barbara friends has won what’s believed to be the Federal Communications Commission’s first license to capture super high-resolution radar images from space.
Umbra, founded by a pair of local high school graduates, received permission to collect synthetic aperture radar images at 15-centimeters, which means it can see items as small as 6 inches, or the size of a soda can, with its microsatellite.
The firm reportedly is the first commercial satellite provider in U.S. history to receive a license to deliver this high-level capability from space using technology that can see through clouds at night, according to Gabe Dominocielo, who co-founded Umbra with long-time friend David Langan.
Plans call for their first microsatellites to hitch rides on unidentified rockets as secondary payloads later this year, with at least one reportedly from their own backyard — Vandenberg Air Force Base.
“I think the key thing is that this sets a regulatory precedent which completely changes commercial remote sensing,” said Dominocielo, who serves as Umbra’s president while Langan is chief executive officer.
They previously had permission from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 25-centimeter resolution or something approximately 10 inches.
“We have been working with regulators since day one. Umbra develops capabilities which are today’s state of the art and tomorrow’s art of the possible,” said Alex Potter, Umbra’s director of payloads.
The satellite weighs 143 pounds and sports an antenna stowed away for launch to fit on a rocket. Once the satellite arrives in space, the antenna will unfurl to 10 square meters (108 square feet) for operations — “so it’s massive.”
“Everything that is special about Umbra we do in house,” Dominocielo said, adding that other features involve off-the-shelf flight-tested technology. “The famous quote is buy if you can, build it if you must.”
Upon launch, the spacecraft will be placed into low-earth orbit some 320 miles above earth.
“Our radar is the size of an Altoid tin —very small,” Dominocielo said.
Officials at the company, which recently raised $32 million, say the patented technology had never been attempted by a commercial firm or approved by a U.S. regulatory body.
“Umbra just boils down to unit economics,” Dominocielo said, adding that “new space” firms focus on low cost and low quality while “old space” provides expensive and higher quality product
“And then Umbra is incredibly unique on its own because we invented it. Not only are we super high quality but we’re very low cost,s and it’s all enabled by our patent,” he said.
In addition to U.S. government agencies, the technology could prove valuable for several industries where other tools can be vulnerable.
For instance, oil and natural operations across the globe often involve pipelines that cross countries’ borders but firms need to monitor equipment and terrain. A drone flown above the site can get shot down. People in vehicles also can become targets.
Some existing satellites with much lower resolutions produce images that cost about $7,500.
“We charge less than one-tenth,” Dominocielo said.
The better-resolution images will only be available to some customers under U.S. regulations.
Long-time buddies who grew up in Santa Barbara — Dominocielo graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 2002 and Langan from Dos Pueblos High in 2003 — formed the company five years ago.
After high school they headed in different directions, with Dominocielo studying history at California State University, Chico, and Langan ending up at the UC Irvine.
Langan, who earned advanced engineering degrees, entered the aerospace industry while Dominocielo became an entrepreneur building a firm for the legal industry.
A conversation between the long-time friends launched Umbra. Dominocielo recalls Langan saying, “I have an idea for a satellite that sees through clouds at six inches.”
Dominocielo was skeptical but intrigued, asking about current capabilities only to hear about high costs, limited ability and meters.
“I’m like, David, what is a meter?” Dominocielo recalled laughing.
That didn’t stop the non-engineer from uniting with the engineer to obtain millions of dollars and develop unique capability.
The firm recently opened a second office in Austin, Texas, and expects to expand its team of employees to more than 50 this year, with new job openings in engineering, product, software, operations, and marketing after winning some “meaningful contracts.”
He might be new to aerospace, but Dominocielo confessed to being hooked.
“It’s like a drug. I love the space industry,” Dominocielo said. “This has been so much fun.”
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.