Even without a satellite in orbit, SatVu is giving investors a behind-the-scenes look at hot spots they’re going to be tracking in the future.
The London-based thermal imaging company released an image this week taken from HotSat-1 before its camera bit the dust, which highlights the thermal signature of a crypto mining operation in Rockdale, TX.
Images like these represent the backbone of a growing business line in economic monitoring, for which SatVu has received an uptick in interest in the past year. It can be summed up with just two words: data centers.
1,000 words: For the investor community (hedgefunds, traders, and commodities analysts, etc.) this image looks like dollar signs. The image proves SatVu’s ability to offer investors insights they couldn’t find anywhere else, namely when a data center comes online for the first time—perhaps even before the data center announces so.
“The really interesting thing with high resolution thermal imagery is that you’re able to see sort of what is happening underneath the structure,” SatVu VP of business development Thomas Cobti told Payload. “On data centers, there’s just been this real wave of interest in understanding what may be going on.”
It’s not just investors that are flocking to lock down SatVu services, however. The uptick in demand for data centers around the world to keep pace with the growing proliferation of crypto and AI infrastructure means there’s money to be made in understanding the goings-on at these facilities.
Cobti explained that SatVu’s 3.5m resolution thermal imagery can spot when data centers turn their air conditioning systems on, when certain substations begin emitting heat, or when water coolant systems are in use.
- This data is as good as insider information for traders. Knowing when a data center comes online can give investors an early sign that news is about to break, and investments can be made before the market catches on.
- The data also gives regulators a route to understand the environmental impact of data centers on the surrounding area. If they emit too much heat, the data centers can be quickly identified.
- The images also give data center operators more insight into the efficiency of their assets, and can spot places where their hardware is expending energy unnecessarily, and places where excess heat is causing problems to the overall system.
What’s next: SatVu plans to launch HotSat-2 as early as Q1 of next year. From there the company will build its constellation of satellites to eventually offer 20 daily revisits.
“We see a lot of momentum in economic monitoring, and we really see that this is going to be a growing part of the business,” Cobti said. “[It’s] not just a strategic vertical for us, but also a significant source of revenue going forward.”
