Democratizing How We See Our World From The Stars

Bringing Space Down to Earth: How NASA and SkyFi Are Transforming Satellite Data Access

The House Space, Science, and Technology Committee recently advanced legislation to officially authorize NASA to acquire commercial satellite data for the use of “the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration, and other Federal agencies.”

With the proliferation of satellites in orbit over the past decade, the scope of data available is extraordinary–supporting military missions, agriculture production, disaster preparedness and response, and a wide range of scientific research.

In 2017, NASA established a program to leverage this commercial innovation. It has been nothing short of a success–with data now being sourced from 15 commercial vendors. Congress can, and should, act to permanently authorize it. That is what the ASCEND Act does.

But acquiring the data is one thing. Understanding what it all means is a different ballgame.

That’s where companies like SkyFi come in. SkyFi is an “earth intelligence platform” that has set out to “democratize access to satellite imagery.” Kate van Dam, the company’s Head of Strategic Markets told us. “Whether you are an individual, municipality, or the largest mining and agriculture companies in the world, everybody can and should be using satellite imagery.”

How it works

Kate explained that to access satellite data you have to “download this insanely large GeoTIFF file because it's not just about the image — the real information is in the metadata. Then you have to go into something called ArcGIS, download it, and then work on it. You absolutely have to be a geospatial person to be able to do it.”

SkyFi takes out this complexity. Within its mobile and web app you can task a satellite or pull imagery that has already been taken, and then receive answers to the questions or problems you are encountering.

“We have built the storefront for the largest commercial satellite companies in the world,” Kate said.

SkyFi in Action

As mentioned, this satellite data is not only valuable to federal agencies, it supports farmers, ranchers, and local communities.

“After the Los Angeles fires, we have a company that went out the moment the smoke cleared and people started pulling up different images, either of their houses, lots, or infrastructure,” Kate told us.

The company is also actively supporting government customers in mission sets around the world. And while collaboration between government and private innovators is not without its challenges, the efforts of both SkyFi and the House Science committee here show that real progress is being made to close the gap.

Thanks to Kate and SkyFi for sharing their story.

AI in the Physical World

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's comments at Hill and Valley were incredibly important–and we’d strongly encourage everyone to watch them. Because, rather than talking about AI investment in terms of ambiguous ambition, he emphasized the technology’s impact on the real world. AI infrastructure over the coming years is about more than chips. The ubiquity of AI systems in the physical world–from tractors to machines–will require AI factories to accompany the plants that are bending and soldering metal. For the first time, the engines of AI will be manufactured entirely on American soil, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and strengthening our technological sovereignty.

Here are some of the top quotes from Wednesday’s conversation that caught our eye:

• “This is an Industrial Revolution. It's really important that we understand that, ultimately, the winners of the last Industrial Revolution wasn't the country that invented it; it was the country that applied it." (Referencing how Great Britain invented industrialization but the United States applied it at scale.)

• "China is right behind us. We're very, very close. … 50 percent of the world's AI researchers are Chinese, and so this is an industry that we will have to compete for."

• "We need to accelerate the diffusion of American AI technology around the world."

• "Our country needs to acknowledge that trade craft is respectable work, and it's critical work, and it's necessary to build a country." (Just as we highlighted earlier this week as it relates to shipbuilding.)

For those that are wrapped up in each AI development or related policy development, the merits are obvious. But what’s so important about Huang’s comments is his understanding that with new technology, comes disruption. And so by painting a picture of what the fulsome American life can look like with full technological adoption, Huang demonstrates a political and cultural deftness that many technology leaders miss.

Field Notes: Energy and Commerce Prepares the Future for More Power

The Energy and Commerce Committee this week examined how the U.S. can produce and distribute the energy required to power intelligence. The committee notes that oil and natural gas accounts for about 74 percent of the primary energy sources consumed in the U.S. every year, with natural gas making up about 43 percent of electric power generation.

But various state and federal policies have shut-down significant baseload and dispatchable generation over the past decade. The committee is working on legislation now to ensure our energy needs are met. Some of those bills include:

• The Reliable Power Act would amend the Federal Power Act to provide for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review federal regulations that may affect the reliable operation of the bulk power system. No regulation affecting electric-generation facilities would be allowed to be finalized if FERC finds that it would have a significant negative impact on the reliability or adequacy of the nation’s bulk power system.

• The GRID Power Act would direct FERC to require transmission providers prioritize interconnection queue requests for dispatchable generation projects and projects that enhance grid resilience and reliability.

• The Power Plant Reliability Act would enhance authority under Section 207 of the Federal Power Act to allow affected parties to contest the retirement of generation resources, for a 5-year period, in the event that a retirement causes harm to reliability of the bulk power system. The bill would also require power plants to provide a 5-year advance notice of plans to retire.

In the coming years it’s critical the U.S. limits premature baseload retirements and brings more generation onto the grid to provide the energy needed to maintain technological leadership. The committee is working to ensure that happens.

Two Final Things

• NASA Administrator nominee Jared Issacman was approved out of the Senate Commerce Committee by a vote of 19-9.

• The defense reconciliation bill we wrote about on Tuesday passed out of the House Armed Services Committee with the support of five democrats. But don’t expect these same five, or any for that matter, to vote for the final reconciliation bill.