Tiny satellites give investors a bird’s eye view, but is it worth the trouble?
THE latest technological innovation for data-hungry hedge funds is a fleet of five dozen shoebox-sized satellites.A company called Planet Labs has launched a small constellation of what it calls "cubesats" that can deliver much more frequent imagery of economically sensitive spots than traditional satellites. Those spots include retailers’ parking lots, oil-storage tanks or farmland.The company, founded by three former Nasa scientists, has now signed an agreement to supply data to Orbital Insight, which mines satellite imagery for trading tips for hedge funds.Until now, Orbital has relied on monthly or bimonthly imagery for its analysis. The deal with Planet Labs will give it access to weekly images at first. Next year, if Planet Labs succeeds in a plan to launch another 40 or so cubesats, Orbital will have access to daily images of every piece of land on earth."Almost all economic activity is change," says Jimi Crawford, a former Google executive who founded Orbital. "Once you get ...
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