LatConnect 60 is working to raise between $5 million to $20 million in an accelerated growth round to fund its short-wave infrared (SWIR) satellite constellation.
On May 21, the company marked the opening of a new space integration facility at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, where integration and testing for one of its upcoming satellites will take place.
LatConnect 60 is an Australian company that aims to build an 18-satellite SWIR constellation, and expand to a 100-satellite network by 20235. The company is operational and has built proprietary AI and analytics platforms, which currently use third-party satellite data.
Arvind Rampal, head of Commercial Strategy, told Via Satellite, there is currently limited availability of high-resolution SWIR data — a gap that LC60 is looking to fill.
Rampal reports the company has already secured the cornerstone investors for the growth funding round, and discussions underway include sovereign investment funds and corporate venture capital funds.
Its first two satellites, SWIRSAT-1 and SWIRSAT-2, are in the final stages of development and set to be by or before the end of the first quarter 2027. These missions are designed to deliver WIR resolution at 4 meters with VNIR at 1.5 meters.
“Owning and operating our own constellation takes LC60 to the next level because it gives us control over a strategically important sensing layer,” Rampal told Via Satelite. “This allows us to provide high-resolution insights for defence, agriculture, crop yield estimation, biomass moisture, CO2 detection, methane detection, climate monitoring, oil and gas applications, and dual-use defense requirements.”
SWIRSAT-1 is a microsatellite being built by Gilmour Space in Queensland, Australia, with payloads from Dragonfly Aerospace and Simera Sense. It is set to launch with Indian launch startup Skyroot Aerospace.
The company will use the new facility at ECU to complete integration and testing of SWIRSAT-2, which includes integration of a NanoAvionics bus and a Dragonfly Aerospace camera. SWIRSAT-2 will launch on a SpaceX mission.
“The world needs trusted, timely intelligence from novel infrared imagery datasets that can support decisions. That is what LC60 is building: from space, to ground, to AI-enabled insight,” CEO and founder Venkat Pillay said in a release.
