What are the current funding trends in Earth observation?

All funding deals in the Earth observation market over the last years

Below is the table listing all the deals. You can find our methodology at the end of this page.

If you want a deeper understanding of the market and its current dynamics, get our report covering the Earth observation market.

Is Earth observation startup funding really booming in 2026?

Earth observation funding is growing much faster in 2026, and the increase goes well beyond a few giant rounds. We recorded 27 deals involving 25 companies from January 1 through September 21, compared with 21 deals and 20 companies during the same period in 2025. Disclosed capital jumped from $152.55 million to $1.236 billion, an increase of 710%.

The headline is heavily influenced by ICEYE's $520 million financing, which accounts for 42.1% of the period's quantified funding. Still, removing every known round above $50 million leaves $251.02 million, 64.5% more than in 2025.

The longer comparison supports the growth story. Earth observation recorded 19 deals during the comparable period in 2024, 21 in 2025 and 27 in 2026. The median disclosed round also reached $20 million, compared with $4.85 million last year.

Funding indicator	2026 YTD	2025 YTD	2024 YTD
Funding deals	27	21	19
Funded companies	25	20	18
Disclosed capital	$1,236.02M	$152.55M	$274.24M
Capital excluding rounds above $50M	$251.02M	$152.55M	$214.74M
Capital excluding rounds above $100M	$411.02M	$152.55M	$274.24M
Median disclosed round	$20M	$4.85M	$6M
Average disclosed round	$58.86M	$7.63M	$14.43M
Largest disclosed round	$520M	$38.1M	$59.5M
Top three rounds' capital share	66.7%	50.5%	56.0%

Would Earth observation funding still be growing without ICEYE?

Earth observation investment would still be growing strongly without ICEYE, although the market would look much less spectacular. Excluding the company's $520 million Series F leaves approximately $716 million in quantified 2026 funding, about 4.7 times the comparable 2025 total.

The tougher test is to remove all five known rounds above $50 million. That eliminates $985 million, leaving $251.02 million. The remaining amount is higher than both the $152.55 million recorded in 2025 and the $214.74 million recorded in 2024.

ICEYE is hardly alone in attracting large checks. Tomorrow.io raised $175 million in February and another $35 million in May, Xoople secured $130 million in April, Pixxel raised $100 million in September, and Hydrosat received $60 million in January.

Several deals have undisclosed or lower-bound amounts, so these adjusted totals compare recorded funding rather than complete market investment.

Are more Earth observation startups getting funded, or are investors just writing bigger checks?

More Earth observation startups are getting funded, but the jump in round sizes is much more dramatic than the increase in companies. Funded businesses increased 25%, from 20 in 2025 to 25 in 2026, while quantified capital rose 710%.

The average disclosed financing climbed from $7.63 million to $58.86 million. That average is pulled upward by the largest deals, but the median also increased more than fourfold, from $4.85 million to $20 million.

The shift is visible even among companies raising amounts well below the year's megadeals. Array Labs secured $20 million to expand radar manufacturing and prepare its first satellite cluster, constellr raised approximately $44 million for thermal observation, and HawkEye 360 obtained approximately $23 million for radio-frequency intelligence.

Is Earth observation funding becoming concentrated around a handful of winners?

Earth observation funding is becoming increasingly concentrated around established companies, even though the number of businesses raising money is growing. The three largest 2026 financings represent 66.7% of known capital, compared with 50.5% in 2025.

The five largest rounds account for 79.7% of the total. ICEYE, Tomorrow.io, Xoople, Pixxel and Hydrosat collectively raised $985 million through their largest individual financing events.

These businesses have different technologies and customers, but each is funding capabilities that are expensive to build. ICEYE operates radar satellites for intelligence, Tomorrow.io is expanding weather sensing, Xoople is developing continuously updated physical-world data infrastructure, Pixxel is building advanced imaging systems, and Hydrosat provides thermal intelligence.

The concentration also shows up in funding stages. Later-stage deals increased from four to 11, with companies beyond their initial development phases capturing a growing share of investment.

Company	Largest 2026 round	Observation category	Funding stage
ICEYE	$520M	Synthetic Aperture Radar	Series D+
Tomorrow.io	$175M	Atmospheric & Weather Sensing	Series D+
Xoople	$130M	Geospatial Analytics	Series B
Pixxel	$100M	Hyperspectral Imaging	Series C
Hydrosat	$60M	Thermal Infrared Imaging	Series B
constellr	≈$44M	Thermal Infrared Imaging	Series A
SatVu	≈$40M	Thermal Infrared Imaging	Unknown
Ruiqi Deep Space Technology	$32.4M	Geospatial Analytics	Seed

Why are investors putting so much money into Earth observation satellite networks?

Investors are funding bigger Earth observation networks because several companies have moved from developing satellite technology to deploying infrastructure for paying customers and governments.

ICEYE offers one of the clearest examples. When announcing its $520 million primary Series F in June, the company said seven European governments had already procured sovereign satellite systems. Those government relationships help explain why General Atlantic led a financing that valued ICEYE above $12 billion.

Tomorrow.io's $175 million February financing was intended to accelerate DeepSky, its AI-native weather satellite constellation. The company said its first constellation had already deployed 13 satellites and was providing atmospheric intelligence to more than 250 organizations. Its May extension brought the Series F to $210 million.

Xoople raised $130 million in April to commercialize a platform built around continuously updated data about physical changes on Earth. A day later, the company announced a satellite-system development partnership with L3Harris, following seven years of research and development.

Array Labs provides a smaller-scale example. Its January $20 million Series A was intended to expand radar manufacturing, complete flight qualification and prepare its first formation-flying satellite cluster. The company also reported multi-year capacity agreements with customers in mining, infrastructure and embodied AI.

Is synthetic aperture radar becoming the hottest Earth observation category?

Synthetic aperture radar is attracting the most disclosed Earth observation capital in 2026, largely because ICEYE has become an exceptional fundraising outlier.

The category recorded five deals worth $544.8 million in quantified funding, compared with four deals and $9 million during the comparable 2025 period. ICEYE's $520 million financing accounts for roughly 95% of this year's known SAR capital.

Other radar companies are still attracting investment. Array Labs raised $20 million in January, GalaxEye secured approximately $4.8 million in March, and Chinese companies Yingsa Technology and Zhixing Space reported additional financings whose exact sizes were not disclosed.

SAR satellites can observe the Earth's surface at night and through cloud cover, making them useful for persistent monitoring, intelligence gathering and infrastructure analysis.

ICEYE's government procurement relationships provide particularly strong evidence of demand. Array Labs has also disclosed contracts with US government organizations, including DARPA, related to its radar technology.

Which Earth observation categories are gaining investor attention fastest?

Weather sensing and thermal infrared imaging are gaining attention in 2026, while hyperspectral funding is being lifted by one large investment. Geospatial analytics remains active but now represents a smaller share of total capital.

Atmospheric and Weather Sensing went from no deals during the comparable 2025 period to three this year, with $210 million in quantified funding. Tomorrow.io accounts for the disclosed amount through its $175 million financing and $35 million extension. Yunyao Aerospace also announced a financing exceeding $72 million, but its open-ended amount is excluded from the exact-dollar totals.

Thermal Infrared Imaging has broader participation. Deals increased from three to five, while known funding climbed from $26.4 million to $156.2 million. Hydrosat, constellr, SatVu and SatLeo Labs all raised money.

Hyperspectral Imaging presents a different picture. Its deal count dropped from three to one, yet disclosed capital jumped from $13.3 million to $100 million because of Pixxel's Series C.

Geospatial Analytics recorded 11 financings, one more than last year. Its known capital nearly doubled to $202.02 million, although its share of the total market fell sharply as much larger financings took place elsewhere.

Category	2026 deals	2025 deals	2026 known capital	2025 known capital
Geospatial Analytics	11	10	$202.02M	$101.35M
Synthetic Aperture Radar	5	4	$544.8M	$9M
Thermal Infrared Imaging	5	3	$156.2M	$26.4M
Atmospheric & Weather Sensing	3	0	$210M	$0
Hyperspectral Imaging	1	3	$100M	$13.3M
RF Geolocation	1	1	$23M	$2.5M
Optical Imaging	1	0	Not quantified	$0

Is geospatial analytics losing ground to satellite hardware?

Geospatial analytics is still attracting more funding than last year, but the biggest Earth observation investments are increasingly going toward companies building proprietary sensing and data infrastructure.

The category's known funding nearly doubled to $202.02 million, despite its share of the overall funding pool dropping from approximately 66.4% to 16.3%, a decline of about 50 percentage points.

Xoople's $130 million Series B explains much of that growth. The company is developing an infrastructure platform supported by purpose-built satellites and advanced data engineering, putting it somewhere between a conventional analytics provider and a satellite operator.

Other software-oriented companies also attracted capital. SkyFi raised $12.7 million to improve access to satellite imagery and analytics, Ubotica secured $11 million for AI-powered orbital intelligence, and LiveEO announced more than €28 million in financing to expand infrastructure monitoring and defense applications.

LiveEO combines geospatial analytics with its own Twinspector satellite plans. SkyFi takes a different approach, offering access to imagery from numerous providers through one platform.

Are early-stage Earth observation startups having a harder time raising?

Seed-stage Earth observation funding has slowed considerably in 2026, although startups that have reached Series A are finding more opportunities than last year.

Seed deals fell from 12 during the comparable 2025 period to six this year. Series A financings moved in the opposite direction, increasing from two to six, while Series B deals also doubled from three to six.

As a result, Seed and Series A represented 44.4% of total deals, compared with 66.7% in 2025. Later-stage financings rose from 19% to 40.7% of transactions.

Array Labs' $20 million Series A, Ubotica's $11 million round and GalaxEye's approximately $4.8 million financing show that companies past the earliest stage can still find backing. Ruiqi Deep Space Technology even raised $32.4 million at Seed, an unusually large amount for its stage.

Are investors backing new Earth observation startups or doubling down on existing companies?

Earth observation investors are overwhelmingly backing companies with previous financing histories in 2026. Only three of the 27 deals were classified as first financings, compared with six of 21 last year.

That brings the first-financing share down from 28.6% to 11.1%. Follow-on financings account for the remaining 88.9%.

The largest transactions illustrate this preference. ICEYE, Tomorrow.io, Hydrosat and Xoople have all completed earlier financings and are raising additional capital to expand their businesses.

New companies can still attract meaningful investment. Ruiqi Deep Space Technology secured $32.4 million, Stellaria raised $6.8 million, and Tianwei Technology received an investment whose final amount was not publicly quantified.

This comparison reflects available funding records rather than every company's complete financing history. It also cannot tell us how many new startups tried unsuccessfully to raise capital.

Why is Europe attracting so much Earth observation funding?

Europe is attracting exceptionally large Earth observation financings because several of the market's best-funded businesses are based there, particularly ICEYE, Xoople, constellr and SatVu.

The median disclosed European round rose from approximately $7.73 million in 2025 to $40 million in 2026. Europe's share of known capital is more than twice its share of deals.

ICEYE's June financing dominates the total, but Xoople's $130 million Series B, constellr's approximately $44 million and SatVu's approximately $40 million show that substantial investment extends beyond radar.

North America is also benefiting. Its median known round increased from $5 million to $29 million, helped by companies such as Tomorrow.io and Hydrosat.

Asia-Pacific looks different. Its median rose only modestly, from $3.1 million to $3.75 million, despite Pixxel's $100 million financing. Several Chinese transactions have incomplete amount disclosures, which limit the accuracy of regional dollar comparisons.

Are defense and government contracts driving Earth observation funding?

Defense and government demand are helping drive some of the biggest Earth observation investments, with ICEYE providing the clearest link between actual procurement and fundraising.

The Finnish company reported sovereign satellite-system procurement by seven European governments when announcing its June financing. Its intelligence systems have moved beyond technical demonstration and into government purchasing.

Other companies are seeing interest from defense organizations. Pixxel announced a US National Reconnaissance Office contract in May to demonstrate commercial hyperspectral sensing capabilities. SatVu has Lockheed Martin among its strategic investors, and constellr explicitly linked its February funding to developing defense-grade thermal intelligence.

Array Labs has also disclosed several US government research and development contracts for radar technologies. High-performance sensing is clearly attracting interest beyond traditional commercial imagery markets.

Commercial demand remains important, though. Hydrosat serves agriculture and water-resource applications, Tomorrow.io provides weather intelligence for industries including logistics and energy, and SkyFi makes satellite imagery accessible across numerous sectors.

Are corporate investors becoming more important in Earth observation?

Corporate investors are playing a visible role in Earth observation funding, particularly where satellite technology connects to defense, telecommunications, energy and industrial infrastructure.

Nokia participated in ICEYE's Series F, while Lockheed Martin appears among SatVu's strategic investors. Hydrosat received backing from Statkraft Ventures, and DNV Ventures participated in SkyFi's $12.7 million financing.

New Space Intelligence attracted strategic participation from Zenrin Future Partners and JR East Start UP, linking its geospatial work with companies interested in mapping and transport infrastructure.

Institutional venture investors remain prominent at the top of the market. General Atlantic led ICEYE's primary financing, Stonecourt Capital and HarbourVest Partners led Tomorrow.io's $175 million round, and Temasek and Seraphim co-led Pixxel's Series C.

We cannot yet say that corporate investors are systematically more active than in previous years. Strategic-investor disclosure varies, and the available records do not establish a consistent increase. Nor does a corporate investment automatically mean that a customer contract exists.

Could 2026 become the strongest year yet for Earth observation startup funding?

Earth observation has already surpassed the previous two full years in disclosed funding within our three-year dataset, even though the current 2026 analysis covers only January 1 through September 21.

The $1.236 billion recorded through September 21 exceeds the $353.64 million reported for the whole of 2025 and the $364.81 million recorded for all of 2024.

Deal activity is also close to setting a new high within this comparison. We counted 27 transactions through September 21, compared with 29 during all of 2025 and 27 during all of 2024.

A few unusually large rounds have already made 2026 the biggest of these three years by disclosed capital. The remaining question is whether deal activity can also exceed the 29 transactions recorded in 2025. Three more deals would be enough.

What is actually changing in Earth observation funding?

Earth observation funding is genuinely growing, with more deals, more funded companies and larger typical rounds than in either of the previous comparable periods. This year's increase is supported by more than just the biggest transactions.

The most important change is the amount of capital flowing into established operators. Five known financings account for nearly 80% of disclosed funding, and later-stage companies now represent a much larger share of deals. Investors are backing businesses capable of deploying satellite networks and commercializing sophisticated sensing infrastructure.

The market's technology mix is also changing. SAR intelligence attracts the most capital, primarily through ICEYE. Thermal imaging has attracted several substantial investments, while Tomorrow.io has brought unusually large amounts into atmospheric sensing. Traditional geospatial analytics remains active, but the biggest checks increasingly go to companies building proprietary infrastructure or unique datasets.

New-company financing is a weaker part of the picture. Seed deals have halved, and only three transactions were classified as first financings. The market is funding the expansion of existing businesses much more visibly than the creation of new ones.

Government intelligence procurement, commercial weather services, infrastructure monitoring and AI-ready physical-world datasets all feature in major company announcements. Investors have more tangible commercial applications to underwrite, particularly among operators with deployed technology and established customers.

Earth observation looks like a market entering a more expensive phase of commercial development. More companies are raising capital, but the exceptional growth is concentrated among those with the technology, customer relationships and infrastructure plans to justify much larger commitments.