WASHINGTON — Booz Allen’s venture capital arm chose remote-sensing startup Albedo as its first investment in a space company because of its potential to transform intelligence gathering, a senior executive said Jan. 23.
Albedo on Tuesday announced it raised $35 million to build and launch a network of ultra-high resolution Earth imaging satellites. Several venture firms participated in the funding round, including Booz Allen Ventures.
Booz Allen, a large consulting firm known for its work with the U.S. government and military, launched its corporate venture arm in 2022 and manages a fund of about $100 million.
“We are focused on investments in data coming from space,” Chris Bogdan, executive vice president at Booz Allen and head of the firm’s space business, told SpaceNews.
He said Booz Allen intends to take an active role in working with Albedo to bring its technology to defense and intelligence users, as well as civilian applications like climate, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and urban planning.
Booz Allen Ventures plans to invest in a broad range of tech sectors besides space, including analytics, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
Satellites could replace drones, balloons
The U.S. military today relies on limited surveillance aircraft, drone flights, high-altitude balloons or intermittent satellite passes for overhead intelligence, Bogdan said, whereas Albedo promises more persistent eyes in the sky that can watch adversary movements or track targets of interest.
Albedo’s low-flying satellites are designed to provide surveillance from very low Earth orbit, flying at altitudes of 200 to 300 miles. That allows the satellites to gather high resolution imagery without having to expose aircraft crews or drones to the risk of being shot down by adversary weapons.
Bogdan, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, said having a bird’s-eye view of the entire battlefield, updated every few…
Read the full article here