Via Satellite archive illustration.

Defense continues to drive momentum in the Earth Observation (EO) satellite market, with industry leaders pointing to demand for sovereign capabilities.

Novaspace Principal Annekatrien Debien, recently shared at World Space Business Week (WSBW) that defense represents close to 50% of the overall EO market. Over the past five years, the defense data and value added services market grew by 42%, reaching $2.5 billion in 2024.

Defense data applications now represent more than 65% of the whole EO data market. One of the drivers is countries looking to procure their own defense assets, with Debien highlighting a recent Finnish Defence Force purchase from Iceye as an example of this type of deal.

There’s a “growing demand for geospatial autonomy” as a key driver behind this market. “Security and defense applications remain the largest revenue generator and will increase quite a lot over the last decade,” she added.

Will Marshall, CEO of Planet Labs said during a WSBW panel that the changing world is leading to more demand for solutions.

“Geopolitics are driving countries to want eyes faster,” Marshall said. “People are very worried; countries want to have their own independent means of surveying the world. The strongest demand is in Europe because of the most urgent threats that are on its borders. The key interest is getting dedicated capacity that no one can knock out. We are seeing a lot of interest and urgency in that.”

Eric Even, senior vice president and head of Space Digital for Airbus said the company wants to be “at the forefront” of resolution, and highlighted the importance of latency. He spoke of the need for military users to get precise data quickly. “If you want to monitor something for military operations, you need to be able to revisit, and have precise resolution. Countries want and need sovereign capabilities, now more than ever,” Even said.

BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole said there has been a “major shift” in the landscape, and companies are working to be more agile to offer services to customers.

“Everyone is trying to get to the same place — timely and reliable intelligence in space,” O’Toole said. “The market is taking a different shift from five years, to faster, smaller, more agile architectures. The market is moving fast but still shaking out. The affordability and the speed between the processing and the satellite technology and the deployed capability. Every customer is looking at this in their own way, where they want to be as a country or a company.”

South Korean company Satrec Initiative has demonstrated 25 cm native-resolution with its recently launched SpaceEye-T satellite. The panel pointed out that the company has somewhat flown under the radar in the space industry.

Eugene Kim, executive vice president of Satrec Initiative, said the company aims to offer some of the highest resolution in the market. He also spoke of the sovereign market driving the need for more creative solutions. He said that many countries now want to have their own sovereign space systems. Kim believes a company like Satrec can provide “a missing piece” for customers.

“We were looking at the market and there is something in between missing. Owning a sovereign satellite system is expensive. We have come up with a leasing business model,” Kim said.

However, while there was a lot of talk about defense boosting EO, commercial markets still provide opportunity. Even added, “Historical markets are also growing, and we are seeing good traction in commercial markets alongside defense. We have seen a massive acceleration of use cases. For example, you have things like deforestation. The enhanced amount of data will open new fields of business for us.”

The EO sector is also watching opportunities for the U.S. Golden Dome missile defense project with O’Toole calling it a “pretty interesting opportunity.”

O’Toole said, “We are keeping an eye on it. If there are parts of that mission we can serve, we will. We will see where that goes.”

Marshall added, “This U.S. administration is leaning into commercial technologies, lower costs and more efficient solutions. It moves things in favor of our solutions. There is a real opportunity there. The opportunity outweighs the risk over the long haul. I think with Golden Dome, there will be opportunities. I would be surprised if coordination of intelligence is not a central focus. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there is a role for EO here.”

Applications for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this market is another key enabler, with Marshall saying it enables customers to receive answers from their data much faster. Post-WSBW, Planet announced its next-generation monitoring satellites will have Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) onboard for more advanced onboard computing.

“The confluence of AI and geospatial is here,” Marshall said. “Those AI companies are talking about real world models. AI companies need geospatial and geospatial companies need AI.”

O’Toole highlighted the fact that BlackSky already uses AI in multiple parts of its technology stack. In terms of where it goes next, he added, “

O’Toole said a target is “anticipatory AI” that can deliver information ahead of when it’s needed. “Because we are managing a sophisticated constellation, it is all fully automated,” he said. “We use AI to interrogate imagery. It is all part of automation, reducing latency. We will be putting AI on the loop. The next part is the data fusion, that next level of intelligence. The technologies are proving themselves out very quickly.”