OmniEarth and the Shift Toward Automated Earth Intelligence

Three established defense-sector organizations—Harris Corporation, Draper Laboratory, and Dynetics—combined their expertise to form OmniEarth, a commercial venture focused on deploying a dedicated Earth observation satellite constellation. The planned architecture includes 18 spacecraft: 15 active satellites and three in-orbit spares. Positioned in sun-synchronous orbit, the system is designed to capture consistent daily imagery of the Earth’s surface.

The constellation is expected to produce multispectral imagery at approximately five-meter spatial resolution and panchromatic data at around 2.5-meter resolution. Final technical parameters are being completed before formal delivery to the imaging contractor. Unlike traditional tasking-based providers, OmniEarth intends to operate under a repeat-coverage model, delivering imagery of the same geographic locations on a predictable daily cycle.

Meeting Demand for Verifiable Global Intelligence

According to CEO Lars Dyrud, a rapidly expanding market exists for physically verifiable information. With an estimated $84 trillion global economy distributed across roughly 60 percent of the Earth’s surface, consistent observational data has growing strategic importance. OmniEarth’s mission centers on reducing operational uncertainty by supplying subscribers with dependable, analytics-ready information streams.

The company’s emphasis lies in continuity and reliability. By delivering standardized, repeatable datasets, OmniEarth aims to support decision-makers who require stable, longitudinal insights rather than sporadic imagery acquisitions.

Automation and Scientific Methodology as Core Advantages

A defining characteristic of OmniEarth’s strategy is its focus on analytics as the primary product differentiator. Instead of positioning raw imagery as the end product, the company is investing in automated image recognition and systematic change detection. This approach seeks to minimize reliance on manual interpretation, replacing traditional analyst-driven workflows with algorithmic processing grounded in scientific methodology.

Declining costs associated with small satellite manufacturing and launch services have opened the door to new commercial models in Earth observation. At the same time, exponential growth in computational capacity makes it feasible to process enormous data volumes—projected to exceed 60 petabytes annually from the OmniEarth constellation. Dyrud highlights this combination of falling costs and accelerating technical capabilities as the catalyst behind the venture’s feasibility.

Imagery as Input, Information as Output

Within OmniEarth’s framework, satellite imagery functions as foundational content rather than the final deliverable. The company’s development philosophy resembles industries where content creation and content packaging are distinct economic activities. Imagery acquisition represents the production phase; the transformation into structured intelligence products constitutes the commercial offering.

The target audience includes senior executives in both public and private sectors. These leaders are not expected to evaluate spectral characteristics or resolution metrics. Instead, they require concise, decision-ready intelligence. Using the example of vehicle counts in retail parking lots for competitive analysis, Dyrud suggests that similar insights can be achieved even with lower-resolution imagery when supported by automated processing and consistent temporal coverage—reducing cost without diminishing informational value.

Broad Market Applications and Technical Collaboration

Steve Cook, Director of Corporate Development at Dynetics, reinforces that OmniEarth’s objective is to deliver extracted intelligence rather than raw datasets. The constellation’s data output is intended to serve multiple industries, including agriculture, insurance, and other sectors that depend on large-scale observational insights.

The partnership structure allocates responsibilities across participating organizations. Dynetics manufactures the payload bus, Draper develops systems specifications, and Harris integrates payload components using its AppStar multi-mission payload platform. This division of labor leverages each partner’s specialization to streamline deployment and operations.

Investment Origins and Strategic Positioning

The concept originated with Fieldstone Partners, a private equity firm experienced in satellite communications ventures. Fieldstone previously supported Aireon, LLC in collaboration with Iridium Communications for the Iridium NEXT constellation, which enhanced next-generation air traffic control capabilities. After assessing the commercial Earth observation landscape, Fieldstone selected Dynetics due to its track record in small satellite development and launch execution.

Cook characterizes the initiative as a significant big data opportunity. Once analytical products are generated, identical informational outputs can be distributed across multiple market segments, enabling scalable revenue generation without proportional increases in data acquisition costs.

Deployment Timeline

OmniEarth anticipated launching its first satellite by 2016, with full constellation deployment targeted for completion by 2018. Through daily repeat imaging, advanced automation, and a business model centered on information products, the company aims to reshape how commercial satellite constellations support high-level strategic decision-making worldwide.