Playbook: adopting satellite & remote sensing for climate in 90 days
a buyer's guide: how to evaluate solutions. Focus on an emerging standard shaping buyer requirements.
The satellite remote sensing market for climate applications reached $41.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to surge to $142.1 billion by 2034—a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%. For founders building climate technology solutions in the EU, satellite data has evolved from a specialized input to a foundational infrastructure layer required for regulatory compliance, carbon credit verification, and climate risk assessment. This buyer's guide provides a framework for evaluating remote sensing solutions as emerging standards reshape what buyers require.
Why It Matters
The convergence of regulatory pressure and technological capability has transformed satellite remote sensing from optional enhancement to operational necessity for climate applications. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) mandates comprehensive environmental disclosure beginning in 2024, with value chain emissions and biodiversity impacts requiring verification that ground-based measurement alone cannot provide. Simultaneously, the SEC Climate Disclosure Rules in the United States establish disclosure requirements that drive demand for auditable, third-party data sources.
Carbon market integrity depends increasingly on satellite-based Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV). Major carbon credit buyers now require independent verification of additionality and permanence claims—verification that satellite imagery provides uniquely at scale. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles establish data quality requirements that effectively mandate remote sensing for forest carbon and land-use projects.
For EU-focused founders, the implications extend beyond compliance. Climate risk analytics, supply chain traceability, and environmental impact assessment all benefit from satellite data integration. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes increasingly require material flow tracking capabilities that remote sensing enables. The technology transition occurs against declining costs: falling launch prices (driven by SpaceX and other launch providers) reduce satellite deployment economics while advancing miniaturization enables CubeSat constellations offering daily global coverage.
The market structure favors early movers. Organizations establishing satellite data integration capabilities now build competitive moats through proprietary datasets, analytical expertise, and customer relationships that late entrants cannot easily replicate.
Key Concepts
Satellite Orbits and Coverage Tradeoffs
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites capture approximately 80% of the remote sensing market, providing high-resolution imagery with minimal latency—ideal for climate monitoring and dynamic environmental change detection. Geostationary orbits enable continuous observation of specific regions but at lower resolution. Orbit selection determines revisit frequency, resolution capabilities, and cost structure.
Spectral Bands and Climate Applications
Different spectral bands reveal distinct environmental phenomena. Optical imagery supports land cover classification and change detection. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) penetrates clouds for all-weather monitoring critical in tropical forest regions. Hyperspectral sensors enable atmospheric composition analysis and vegetation health assessment. Thermal infrared detects heat signatures relevant to urban heat island effects and industrial emissions.
Data Processing Levels
Raw satellite data requires significant processing before application utility. Level 0 represents unprocessed instrument data; Level 1 applies calibration corrections; Level 2 incorporates atmospheric correction and geolocation; Level 3-4 products provide derived variables and gridded datasets ready for analysis. Founders must evaluate which processing level their applications require and whether to build internal capability or procure processed products.
Verification and Additionality Standards
For carbon market applications, satellite data must satisfy verification requirements established by registries and standard-setters. Verra's VCS methodology, Gold Standard requirements, and emerging ICVCM Core Carbon Principles each specify monitoring protocols. Additionality determination—demonstrating that carbon sequestration would not have occurred without project intervention—increasingly requires satellite-derived baseline assessments.
| Application | Required Resolution | Revisit Frequency | Key Sensors | Typical Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Carbon MRV | 3-10 meters | Weekly-Monthly | Optical + SAR | $50K-200K |
| Agricultural Monitoring | 10-30 meters | Daily-Weekly | Multispectral | $25K-100K |
| Methane Detection | 30-100 meters | Daily | Hyperspectral | $100K-500K |
| Urban Heat Mapping | 30-100 meters | Monthly | Thermal IR | $10K-50K |
| Flood/Disaster Response | 1-5 meters | On-demand | SAR + Optical | Variable/event |
What's Working
AI-Powered Analytics Automation
Machine learning has transformed the economics of satellite data analysis, automating tasks previously requiring extensive manual interpretation. Deep learning algorithms now achieve 90%+ accuracy in land cover classification, deforestation detection, and crop identification. This automation reduces analytical costs by 60-80% while enabling processing scales impossible through human analysis alone. Companies including Planet Labs and Descartes Labs have built substantial businesses on AI-enabled satellite analytics.
Constellation Economics and Data Availability
Miniaturization and declining launch costs have enabled commercial constellations offering unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. Planet's 200+ satellite constellation provides daily global coverage at 3-5 meter resolution. ICEYE and Capella Space deliver SAR imagery unaffected by cloud cover—critical for tropical forest monitoring. This data availability transforms what's possible for climate applications, moving from periodic snapshots to continuous monitoring.
Public-Private Data Integration
Commercial satellite data increasingly complements public datasets from Copernicus (EU), Landsat (US), and national space agencies. The European Space Agency's Copernicus program provides free Sentinel data at 10-60 meter resolution with 5-day revisit. Sophisticated users combine public data for broad coverage with commercial procurement for high-priority areas requiring superior resolution or specialized sensors.
Carbon Market Demand Pull
Voluntary carbon market growth—despite recent integrity concerns—creates sustained demand for satellite-based MRV. Major buyers including Microsoft, Google, and Stripe explicitly require third-party verification incorporating remote sensing. This demand pull accelerates technology development while establishing data quality expectations that shape product development across the sector.
What's Not Working
Ground Truth Integration Challenges
Satellite observations require ground truth validation to establish accuracy and uncertainty bounds. For climate applications, this validation proves operationally challenging—particularly in remote forest regions where ground access is limited, expensive, or dangerous. Many satellite-derived carbon estimates carry uncertainty ranges of 20-40%, limiting utility for high-precision applications.
Cloud Cover Limitations
Optical sensors cannot penetrate cloud cover, creating systematic data gaps in tropical regions most critical for carbon and biodiversity monitoring. While SAR addresses this limitation, SAR data interpretation requires specialized expertise and computational resources. Cloud cover creates particular challenges for agricultural applications requiring observations at specific phenological stages.
Processing Infrastructure Gaps
The volume of satellite data exceeds many organizations' processing capabilities. A single day of Sentinel-2 global coverage produces approximately 1.6 terabytes of data. Building internal infrastructure to process, store, and analyze this data requires substantial capital investment and technical expertise. Cloud processing platforms address some needs but introduce dependency relationships and recurring costs that may not align with startup economics.
Regulatory Fragmentation
Despite convergence toward satellite-enabled verification, specific methodological requirements vary across registries, jurisdictions, and use cases. EU taxonomy alignment, SEC disclosure compliance, and voluntary carbon market verification each impose distinct requirements. This fragmentation complicates product development for founders seeking cross-market applicability.
Expertise Scarcity
Remote sensing expertise remains scarce, with demand substantially exceeding supply of qualified analysts and engineers. This talent constraint limits organizational capacity to adopt satellite data even when budget and data access exist. The expertise gap proves particularly acute for domain-specific applications requiring both remote sensing skills and sector knowledge.
Key Players
Established Leaders
Planet Labs operates the largest commercial Earth observation constellation, providing daily global coverage at 3-5 meter resolution. Their 2024 $20 million NASA contract demonstrates continued government demand while enterprise climate applications drive commercial growth.
Maxar Technologies provides the highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery (30 cm), essential for detailed infrastructure assessment and urban climate applications. Their analytics platforms integrate imagery with derived insights.
Airbus Defence and Space operates the Pléiades and SPOT constellations while partnering with ESA on next-generation climate monitoring satellites, combining European regulatory expertise with global commercial presence.
European Space Agency (ESA) operates the Copernicus program providing free Sentinel data that establishes baseline expectations for public data availability while advancing climate science missions.
Emerging Startups
ICEYE specializes in SAR satellite imagery, operating a 25+ satellite constellation delivering all-weather monitoring capabilities essential for tropical forest carbon projects and disaster response.
GHGSat leads in satellite-based methane emissions monitoring, providing facility-level detection capabilities increasingly required for oil and gas sector emissions verification.
Pachama combines satellite data with machine learning specifically for forest carbon credit verification, representing the application layer built atop imagery infrastructure.
Satellogic offers high-resolution multispectral and hyperspectral imagery at competitive price points, with a constellation strategy emphasizing emerging market applications.
Key Investors & Funders
Euroconsult and other market intelligence firms track substantial venture investment in Earth observation, with climate applications representing a leading use case category and attracting over $3 billion in 2024 investment.
European Investment Bank provides debt and equity financing for space infrastructure with climate relevance, including satellite constellation development and ground segment infrastructure.
Seraphim Space operates the world's first publicly listed space technology fund, with significant portfolio allocation to Earth observation and climate monitoring companies.
The European Commission funds climate-relevant satellite applications through Horizon Europe and related programs, providing non-dilutive capital for R&D and demonstration projects.
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Verra and Planet Labs Forest Monitoring Partnership
Verra, the world's largest voluntary carbon credit registry, partnered with Planet Labs to integrate satellite monitoring into its forest carbon verification protocols. The partnership provides project developers with standardized access to Planet's daily imagery, enabling continuous monitoring of forest cover change. This integration addresses long-standing concerns about verification rigor while reducing costs for project developers who previously procured imagery independently. The partnership demonstrates how registry requirements shape technology adoption across the voluntary carbon market.
Example 2: Spire Global UK Met Office Contract
Spire Global secured a multi-year contract with the UK Met Office for weather and climate data derived from their radio occultation satellite constellation. The contract provides atmospheric data supporting weather forecasting and climate model validation, representing public sector demand for commercial satellite capabilities. For climate technology founders, this contract illustrates the pathway from specialized capability to institutional procurement, with weather and climate agencies representing substantial addressable markets.
Example 3: BlackSky Acquisition of Satellite Analytics Startup
BlackSky's 2025 acquisition of a satellite analytics startup for $45 million signals vertical integration in the Earth observation sector. The acquisition combines BlackSky's imaging constellation with advanced analytics capabilities, enabling delivery of insights rather than raw imagery. This trend toward full-stack solutions—imagery plus analytics plus domain expertise—defines competitive dynamics that founders must navigate when positioning their ventures.
Action Checklist
- Week 1-2: Requirements Definition — Specify spatial resolution, temporal frequency, spectral requirements, and geographic coverage needed for target applications; distinguish must-have versus nice-to-have capabilities
- Week 3-4: Public Data Evaluation — Assess applicability of free Copernicus Sentinel and NASA Landsat data for baseline requirements; identify gaps requiring commercial procurement
- Week 5-6: Commercial Provider Comparison — Request proposals from 3-5 commercial providers; evaluate pricing models, data licensing terms, and technical specifications against requirements
- Week 7-8: Processing Infrastructure Assessment — Determine build versus buy decision for data processing; evaluate cloud platforms (Google Earth Engine, Microsoft Planetary Computer, AWS) against internal infrastructure options
- Week 9-10: Integration Development — Build data pipelines connecting satellite imagery to downstream applications; establish quality control processes and update frequency protocols
- Week 11-12: Validation Framework — Develop ground truth validation approach; establish accuracy metrics and uncertainty quantification; document methodology for regulatory and customer requirements
FAQ
Q: How do costs compare between public and commercial satellite data? A: Public Copernicus Sentinel data is freely available, making it the baseline for many applications. Commercial data costs range from $10-50 per square kilometer for archive imagery to $200-1000+ per square kilometer for new tasking at high resolution. Volume commitments typically reduce per-unit costs by 30-50%. Annual contracts for climate monitoring applications typically range from $25,000 to $500,000 depending on coverage, resolution, and frequency requirements.
Q: What spatial resolution do climate applications require? A: Requirements vary significantly by application. Forest carbon monitoring typically requires 3-30 meter resolution depending on methodology. Agricultural applications function well at 10-30 meters. Methane detection from individual facilities requires specialized sensors regardless of spatial resolution. Urban heat mapping can utilize 30-100 meter thermal data. Higher resolution enables more precise boundary delineation and change detection but increases data volume and costs proportionally.
Q: How do emerging standards like CSRD affect satellite data requirements? A: The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires verified environmental disclosures that increasingly necessitate satellite-derived evidence. Scope 3 supply chain emissions, deforestation-free sourcing verification, and biodiversity impact assessment all benefit from remote sensing data. While CSRD does not explicitly mandate satellite data, audit firms and verification bodies increasingly expect satellite-based evidence for claims that would otherwise require impractical ground-based verification.
Q: What role does SAR data play in climate applications? A: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides all-weather, day-night imaging capability critical for tropical regions where cloud cover limits optical observation. SAR enables forest structure measurement, soil moisture monitoring, and flood mapping. For carbon applications, SAR complements optical data by providing observations during cloudy periods and enabling biomass estimation through canopy penetration. ICEYE and Capella Space lead commercial SAR provision, while Copernicus Sentinel-1 provides free SAR data at coarser resolution.
Q: How should founders evaluate data licensing terms? A: Data licensing governs how satellite imagery can be used, shared, and integrated into products. Key considerations include: derivative work rights (can you create and sell products incorporating the imagery?), redistribution limitations (can you share imagery with customers or partners?), geographic restrictions (are certain regions excluded?), and term duration (do rights expire?). Standard licensing often prohibits redistribution, requiring separate arrangements for products incorporating satellite imagery. Founders should involve legal counsel in licensing negotiations and anticipate licensing costs when developing business models.
Sources
- Global Market Insights. "Remote Sensing Satellite Market Size, Share & Forecast - 2034." GMI Research, 2024.
- Market Research Future. "Remote Sensing Satellite Market Overview, Size, Industry 2035." MRFR, 2024.
- European Space Agency. "Copernicus Climate Change Service Annual Report 2024." ESA/ECMWF, 2024.
- Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. "Core Carbon Principles Assessment Framework." ICVCM, 2024.
- European Commission. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive Implementation Guidance." EU Publications, 2024.
- Planet Labs. "Planet Investor Day Presentation." Planet Labs PBC, Q3 2024.
Related Articles
Data story: key signals in satellite & remote sensing for climate (angle 7)
from pilots to scale: the operational playbook. Focus on a leading company's implementation and lessons learned.
Myth-busting Satellite & remote sensing for climate: separating hype from reality
Myths vs. realities, backed by recent evidence and practitioner experience. Focus on unit economics, adoption blockers, and what decision-makers should watch next.
Deep dive: Satellite & remote sensing for climate — the hidden trade-offs and how to manage them
What's working, what isn't, and what's next — with the trade-offs made explicit. Focus on unit economics, adoption blockers, and what decision-makers should watch next.