Pathfinder

How Awais Ahmed is Building a Health Monitor for Earth

Episode Summary

Today’s episode takes us to the bleeding edge of Earth observation, where one startup aims to bring what it claims is a step change in multispectral data to the commercial markets.Our guest, Awais Ahmed, is the CEO and cofounder of Pixxel. The Indian-American startup, which is building a health monitor for Earth, has raised $32M+ to build a 36-satellite constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites.

Episode Notes

Today’s episode takes us to the bleeding edge of Earth observation, where one startup aims to bring what it claims is a step change in multispectral data to the commercial markets.

Our guest, Awais Ahmed, is the CEO and cofounder of Pixxel. The Indian-American startup, which is building a health monitor for Earth, has raised $32M+ to build a 36-satellite constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Spaced Ventures, which recently launched an effort to open an investment round into SpaceX. The space investment portal has received over $38M million in pledges from 2,200 investors.

*SNEAK PEEK*

• What prompted Awais and co-founder/CTO Kshitij Khandelwal to start the company (hint: the origin story is a running theme in recent Pathfinder episodes)
• Comparisons between multispectral and hyperspectral data collection
• Capturing 200+ bands at five-meter resolution and a 24-hour revisit rate
• “It’s early days” for space commercialization in India, but the sector has a bright future
• The tech tailwinds powering the startup, along with its key initial use cases and market verticals
• The startup’s views on launch and how Pixxel selects rockets for its satellites’ trips to space
• We unpack Pixxel’s long-term vision for mapping the solar system

*CHAPTERS*

(03:16) What are you putting on orbit?

(06:48) Hyperspectral introduction

(10:55) Space products for companies

(12:26) Origin story of Pixxel

(18:46) The stresses of launching a payload

(24:25) How India is a competitive advantage for Pixxel

(28:07) Technology tailwinds + Pixxel’s tech stack

(39:08) End users + use cases for this technology

(43:12) Hyperspectral vs. synthetic aperture radar

(46:52) A *massively* high concentration of commercial, rather than government, customers

(49:09) How to pick a launch provider + getting to final destination, space tugs, etc.

(52:10) Pixxel’s long-term vision for mapping the solar system

*SHOW NOTES*

Pixxel website: https://www.pixxel.space/

Awais’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/awaisahmedna

Payload’s Pixxel coverage: https://payloadspace.com/pixxel-series-a/

Pixxel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pixxelspace/

https://www.pixxel.space/vision

https://www.pixxel.space/technology

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