SatVu raises GBP £30m to build UK thermal sat network

SatVu has closed a £30 million funding round as it moves from a single-satellite demonstration programme to a multi-satellite constellation for thermal Earth observation.

The round included a strategic investment from the NATO Innovation Fund, alongside British Business Bank, Space Frontiers Fund II and Presto Tech Horizons. The raise brings SatVu's total equity funding to £60 million. It also reported £6 million in pre-orders ahead of its first commercial launch.

SatVu builds satellites that capture high-resolution thermal imagery. It positions its data as "Activity Intelligence" that can show patterns of activity and changes at sites on the ground, day and night.

Launch timetable

Two satellites are planned for orbit in 2026: HotSat-2 and HotSat-3. Three more have been initiated under contract-HotSat-4 and HotSat-5, plus long-lead elements of HotSat-6.

A constellation increases how often a given location can be revisited compared with a single satellite. That matters for customers tracking changes over time, including infrastructure status and operational activity.

The funding adds to earlier backing from Molten Ventures, Adara Ventures, Ridgeline Ventures, NOA, Lockheed Martin, Seraphim Space Fund and Stellar Ventures.

Defence and civil use

SatVu's satellites collect thermal imagery at 3.5-metre resolution. Thermal sensing can reveal heat signatures that are not visible in standard optical imagery, particularly at night or through some forms of obscuration.

The company is targeting government and defence users, while also pointing to applications in energy and industrial monitoring. It has highlighted use cases including monitoring blast furnaces, cement production and data centres, as well as flaring intensity and shutdowns in oil and gas operations. It has also cited power production sites, including solar farms.

Earth observation has drawn growing attention from defence organisations and national governments as the sector expands beyond traditional imagery. Thermal data adds another layer of information for analysts, including indicators of activity at industrial sites and infrastructure, as well as signs of disruption or change.

NATO fund

The NATO Innovation Fund was formed to invest in technology companies relevant to defence and security across the Alliance. Its involvement in SatVu's round signals continued focus on space-based sensing and data products.

"SatVu's thermal intelligence technology can provide governments and businesses across NATO nations with a level of detailed data that was simply not available before," said Trisha Saxena, Senior Associate at the NATO Innovation Fund.

"We are pleased to support SatVu as it revolutionises the earth observation market, delivering critical insights to the security, finance and commodities sectors to help safeguard defence and economic activity across the Alliance," Saxena said.

UK backing

SatVu has also received support from UK government defence innovation programmes, including an ongoing Defence Innovation Loan awarded through the Defence and Security Accelerator, now part of UK Defence Innovation.

Luke Pollard, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, linked that earlier support to the company's latest private round.

"We are committed to strengthening national security by scaling British SMEs and start-ups which help keep the UK's defence industry at the cutting edge of innovation," said Luke Pollard, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence.

"Last year, we backed SatVu with a defence innovation loan, which has already helped spark £30 million further private investment through this funding round. Our support for defence firms through UK Defence Innovation is building British sovereign capabilities and driving economic growth across the country," Pollard said.

The additional capital will support manufacturing and launch commitments as SatVu shifts towards a repeatable service based on multiple satellites. The company described the move as a shift from demonstration to delivery at scale.

"This funding secures SatVu's path to execute at scale. We have a clear and credible path to a multi-satellite constellation, accompanied by investors that match the ambition and pace of the business," said Camilla Taylor, Chief Financial Officer at SatVu.

"This round provides the ability to move fast into sustained delivery this year, driving a major value inflexion as we scale commercial operations and position the business for its next growth phase," Taylor added.

Anthony Baker, co-founder and CEO, said the company's proposition is access to thermal imagery that shows activity not visible through other commercial sources.

"SatVu was founded to give governments access to intelligence they cannot access elsewhere. High-resolution thermal imagery from space reveals activity that is otherwise invisible, day and night, including heat signatures associated with operations inside and around buildings and critical infrastructure," Baker said.

"This investment enables us to scale a UK-built, sovereign thermal capability into a multi-satellite constellation supporting government customers in the UK and across Allied nations worldwide," he added.