UP42 Partners with Near Space Labs to Offer Very High-Resolution Imagery using Zero-Emission Balloons

The zero-emission “Swifty” balloon fleet is operated by Near Space Labs, based in New York and Barcelona, to acquire detailed imagery that is more environmentally friendly and more affordable than traditional aircraft and satellite data.

In commercial operations to date, Near Space Labs’ imagery has been used to inform decision making by governments, energy utilities, insurance agencies, and conservation organizations.

“The Swifty technology is ideal for UP42 customers to use in persistent monitoring of critical infrastructure or rapidly evolving events, such as natural disasters,” said UP42 CEO Sean Wiid. “The unique perspective of the affordable Swifty imagery complements the diverse data sets on our marketplace to provide new geospatial insights.”

UP42 customers can now access the Near Space Labs 30cm archive data directly through the UP42 API. Near Space Labs 10cm data will soon be accessible via the platform as well and customers can already submit requests to be notified when the data is available. Near Space Labs covers regions in the United States and plans to provide and capture data globally.

"We at Near Space Labs are strategically aligned with UP42 in our vision to increase Earth Observation's commercial success through more data availability, ease of usage and improved consistency for analytics,” said Ignasi Lluch, Co-Founder and CTO of Near Space Labs. “Through this offering, we expect to reach even more users and demonstrate that earth imagery does not need to be expensive, difficult to find, or a compromise between frequency and resolution."