The Gold Coast-based company has signed a deal with LatConnect 60, an Earth observation and data fusion company based in Perth, to build and launch the first micro-satellite of what was planned to be a high-resolution constellation of eight satellites that would capture data over the Earth’s equatorial and mid-latitude regions.

The data would be used in various sectors including agriculture, forestry, environmental, resources, climate change, maritime and defence.

LatConnect 60 chief executive Venkat Pillay said the satellites would deliver geospatial insights for mid-latitude areas at a level of detail and frequency not possible with other commercial remote sensing systems.

“The addition of Gilmour Space to the LC60 team contributes significantly to the future success of our ambitious plans,” he said.

Under the deal, Gilmour Space would develop the first 100kg HyperSight 60 satellite on its G-class satellite bus and launched on Gilmour’s Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital space port.

The microsatellite and subsequent constellation would be owned and operated by LatConnect 60.

Gilmour chief executive Adam Gilmour said it would be the company’s second G-class satellite mission on Eris.

The first HyperSight 60 microsatellite was planned for launch in Q4 2024.

Once operational the eight satellites would provide an hourly revisit rate will be possible at mid-latitude locations between 30 degrees north and south in Australia, Asia, South America, and Africa.

LC60 currently owns exclusive rights to 80-centimeter imagery captured over Australia and has developed advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning-based data fusion and analysis algorithms for a variety of applications.