Esper Satellite Imagery

Market position

Esper is an early-stage, seed-funded hyperspectral data supplier within the commercial Earth observation sector, backed by investors including Techstars, Day One Ventures, Stellar Ventures, Hejaz Financial Services, Dolby Family Ventures and Investible. It reported more than $10 million in commercial agreements by mid-2024 despite not yet having an operational constellation.

Esper describes its position in terms of the widest infrared satellite coverage in its market and high-fidelity hyperspectral mapping able to resolve geochemical signatures of critical minerals and alteration zones at scale. Technically, it distinguishes itself through onboard processing that produces chemical-composition analytics before downlink and a hosted-payload approach that borrows the throughput of larger host satellites to overcome bandwidth constraints on large hyperspectral datasets.

Technology

The Over The Rainbow payload series centres on the Esperesso hyperspectral imager, which records over 100 contiguous spectral bands from roughly 400 to 1000 nm at about 30 m resolution in the visible and near-infrared, with a 20 km swath and 10-day revisit from sun-synchronous LEO. Onboard hyper-parallel computation converts raw spectra into surface chemical composition analytics before downlink, reducing ground processing. OTR-1 and OTR-2 were hosted on 12U CubeSat platforms — the Space Machines Optimus and Dhruva Space P-30 buses respectively — using a piggyback approach that leverages the host's data throughput; a partnership with edge-computing firm Spiral Blue supports real-time analytics during overpasses.

Go-to-market

Esper sells directly to mining and exploration companies, inviting prospects to share an area of interest for a mineralisation map, and also reaches broader users through distribution partnerships, notably with SkyFi's satellite imagery marketplace apps. Named clients include Grid Metals Corp, Tennant Mining, Amex Exploration, Ulara Resources, Renascor and Aldoro Resources.

Mining and mineral exploration companies, including juniors targeting gold, copper, cesium, lithium, graphite, niobium and rare earth elements, plus stated applications in precision agriculture, forestry, environmental monitoring and disaster response.

Geography

Headquartered in Australia, with locations listed at Patterson Lakes, Victoria and Melbourne. Customer projects span Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia), Canada (Manitoba, Quebec) and Namibia, and the company's stated ambition is global coverage.

History

Esper began in 2019, founded by Shoaib Iqbal and Joey, who were winners of the UniHack innovation competition, and turned the project into a company focused on affordable hyperspectral imaging. Its first payload, OTR-1, launched on 4 March 2024 hosted on Space Machines' Optimus OTV 2 alongside payloads from HEO Robotics, Spiral Blue, Advanced Navigation, ANT61, Valiant Space and CSIRO; the bus failed to establish a communications link after deployment and the mission was declared inactive before the payload could be commissioned. Esper responded with the OTR-X1 and OTR-X2 interim data products derived from an existing in-orbit near-infrared sensor, and reported over $10 million in commercial agreements by mid-2024. OTR-2 launched on 27 August 2025 aboard Dhruva Space's LEAP-1 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Risks & controversies

The company's first payload, OTR-1, never entered commissioning: after the March 2024 launch, host operator Space Machines could not establish a communications link with the Optimus bus, the mission was declared inactive and terminated early. The reliance on third-party host spacecraft for both launch and communications is therefore a demonstrated dependency, and the planned 18-satellite constellation remains to be deployed.