Obstacles Facing Earth Observation Firms

In the space industry, significant attention is put on rockets and satellites, but these are simply infrastructure that enables services back here on Earth. The value of these services to society, not just to people in the space industry, is what justifies a firm’s development of launch services and satellite constellations in the first place. One type of service is based on Earth observation (EO) data. It can help many people do many things – grow crops, mine resources, or manage disasters. It is a business area with significant opportunity because there is an abundance of data and less startup costs than for infrastructure development. Despite there being an abundance of data, common obstacles firms hinder commercializing EO data.

Nicholas Borroz is a New Zealand-based consultant advising clients in the space industry. With his firm, Rotoiti, he has supported clients in numerous areas including launch, satellite, subsystems, and data analytics. His clients are in both the private and public sectors, mostly in the Asia-Pacific, including in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Nicholas formerly worked as a business intelligence consultant in Washington, DC. He is completing his PhD in international business at the University of Auckland. He received his master’s degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.