SATLANTIS, a company specializing in Earth observation satellites, is developing a deployable, very high-resolution infrared camera in collaboration with its UK subsidiary, SuperSharp, with financial backing from COFIDES and the Basque Institute of Finance (IVF). The total investment for the project amounts to €7.9 million.
For this operation, COFIDES has provided a €692,000 loan from the Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Operations Fund (FONPYME). The IVF has matched this financing with a €692,000 loan from its SME and MIDCAP financing line.
With four satellites in orbit, the SATLANTIS group has a team of 200 people, mostly engineers. The company has an international presence through subsidiaries in the UK, US, and France, as well as strategic alliances in other countries.
SuperSharp, founded as a spin-off from the University of Cambridge in 2017, became part of SATLANTIS in 2023. Specializing in thermal infrared (TIR) electro-optical technologies, it is collaborating with SATLANTIS on a new deployable TIR camera capable of detecting the thermal footprint of objects from space. Its applications are broad, ranging from agriculture, to detect heat stress in crops or forest fires, to energy efficiency, identifying urban heat islands, among others.
Miguel Ángel Ladero, Corporate Investment Director at COFIDES, stated: “It is very satisfying to support this pioneering project, which combines technological innovation with positive impact in key sectors. COFIDES’ commitment to innovative and tech-driven companies reflects our belief that this is essential to address global challenges such as climate change, food security, and the energy transition. We trust this project will play a key role in promoting more sustainable and efficient solutions.”
Juan Tomás Hernani, CEO of SATLANTIS, noted: “Twelve years after being founded in the US and eleven years after moving our headquarters to Bilbao, SATLANTIS takes a new step with SuperSharp in the UK, linking our activity more closely. The rapid integration of technologies across multiple locations is allowing us to develop a disruptive range of infrared cameras in record time, both in design and performance.”
He added: “The COFIDES and IVF loans are key to flying the highest thermal resolution camera on the medium satellite market in under 18 months. In parallel, SATLANTIS is developing other thermal and cryogenic versions in Bilbao that share technology and offer slightly smaller sizes.”
ABOUT SATLANTIS
SATLANTIS is a leading Earth Observation satellite company with offices in Bilbao (ES), Florida (US), Cambridge (UK), and Bidart (FR), holding a strong position in very high-resolution cameras for small satellites. Its technology enables monitoring of non-linear infrastructures (coasts, borders, power lines, etc.) through a data blend of multiple simultaneous spectral bands in visible, infrared, polarimetry, video, and thermal, with high geospatial precision for Defense, Environment, and Agriculture sectors. The company employs over 200 people and is experiencing annual growth exceeding 50%. In its six missions to date, it has achieved 100% success.
ABOUT COFIDES
COFIDES is a state-owned commercial company managing public funds as well as its own and third-party resources for various objectives: internationalization of the Spanish economy, attracting foreign investment to strategic sectors in Spain, promoting impact-driven business in Spain, and contributing to development in countries where it invests. In addition to the State, which holds a majority stake, shareholders include Banco Santander, BBVA, Banco Sabadell, and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America.
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