Capella Space raises $60m funding for SAR satellite imagery

The San Francisco headquartered company says it will use the capital to expand its imaging capacity and develop new data products around its SAR imagery and analytics capabilities. For example, it has three new analytics offerings for Vessel Detection, Change Detection and Global Change Monitoring.

It follows a a $97m Series C financing round, last April, which was led by NightDragon and existing investors DCVC and Cota Capital.

Competitors for Capella Space, for SAR-based imagery, include the Finnish company ICEYE. For example it has been signed up to participate in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Copernicus Earth observation satellite programme.


The advantages of SAR include the ability to form high-resolution images of areas of the Earth in both daylight and night time, and through cloud cover. They can also collecting images over large areas (wide-area Scan mode imaging) as well as “spot collects” over specific sites.

Pictured above is “Acadia”,  the company’s next generation satellites technology. According to Capella, it will be used to expand its existing constellation to provide higher quality imagery and faster order-to-delivery speeds. 

C-level

Capella also announced three new members of its executive team. Chad Cohen joins Capella Space as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) to guide future expansion and growth.

It appointed Glen Elliott as the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Paul Stephen joined as the new Chief Information and Security Officer (CISO) to lead the IT, network operations and security operations functions of Capella Space.

“The company is at an important inflection point in its growth, and this capital will set Capella Space up well to expand into new markets,” said Cohen.

See also: U.S. Army turns to ICEYE for SAR mission imagery