Investment powers new frontier of satellite
imagery-as-a-service for national security, commercial, and climate
imperatives
Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) today announced that its
corporate venture capital arm, Booz Allen Ventures, LLC, has made a
strategic investment in Albedo, the first company to operate
satellites in very low earth orbit (VLEO), which enables them to
offer ultra-high resolution commercial imagery from space. This
investment supports Albedo’s operational constellation deployment
and is aligned to Booz Allen’s efforts to accelerate U.S. space
capabilities with the power of data.
“This is one of the most forward-looking space investments Booz
Allen has ever made and comes at a critical juncture when space
capabilities are needed to solve our nation’s greatest
challenges—geopolitical competition, regional instability,
catastrophic climate change, and more,” said Chris Bogdan,
executive vice president at Booz Allen and leader of the firm’s
Space business. “The level of detail that can be captured by
Albedo’s low-flying satellites—fusing both optical and infrared
sensor data—is unprecedented in the commercial market. It
represents a significant leap in satellite earth imaging so our
clients have access to timely, highly accurate, global intelligence
to then speed and improve their decision making.”
This is the first space-specific investment made by Booz Allen
Ventures, and is aligned with the fund’s focus on providing
leading-edge, innovative technologies to those who need it most—and
fast—with emphasis on dual-use commercial technology solutions.
“Albedo is revolutionizing the industry by making
high-resolution images and imagery-as-a-service more accessible and
affordable, both commercially and for the federal government,” said
Travis Bales, managing director of Booz Allen Ventures. “We
invested in Albedo because of their approach: successfully
combining high-resolution imaging typical of aerial, unmanned
aerial vehicle (UAV), and balloon platforms with the scalable,
persistent, global coverage of satellites. This unlocks vast
applications across multiple sectors, including defense and
intelligence, climate, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and
urban planning, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
VLEO is positioned about half the distance between low Earth
orbit (LEO) and the Earth’s surface and is a new orbit that has not
been fully utilized by the commercial market. Albedo is the first
space company to commercialize this new frontier and offer
high-resolution, aerial-quality imagery from space at a lower cost.
This investment further supports the ability to leverage space as a
critical data source for Booz Allen and its clients in the defense,
national security, and civil arenas.
“Ultra-high-resolution imagery, coupled with thermal infrared,
can be leveraged across a breadth of applications, for everything
from urban planning and pipeline monitoring to U.S. and allied
military operations,” said Topher Haddad, CEO of Albedo. “Our
mission is to provide users imagery to see details with clarity to
then act with certainty, be it a warzone, preventing a wildfire
spark by a power line, or improving crop yield. And that's only the
start of what VLEO can enable for how we observe and protect our
world."
Booz Allen joined the funding round with lead Standard
Investments, in addition to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shield
Capital, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Giant Step Capital,
Republic Capital, and other undisclosed participants.
This investment builds on Booz Allen’s deep history of
delivering space solutions to NASA, the intelligence community, and
Department of Defense. The firm’s more than 50 years of
multifaceted support includes the International Space Station,
modernization of NASA’s infrastructure, engineering and analysis
for the Artemis mission, and the Cybersecurity and Privacy
Enterprise Solutions and Services (CyPrESS) contract—the first time
NASA has united cybersecurity for IT, operational technology, and
mission systems under one contract. Booz Allen also provides
systems engineering and integration for U.S. Space Force space
constellations and develops advanced ground space system
capabilities for the intelligence community.
Since launching in 2022, Booz Allen’s $100 million corporate
venture capital arm has made eight previous strategic investments
in early-stage companies developing dual-use commercial
technologies with focus on four core areas: defense, artificial
intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity, and emerging/deep
technology. Previous Booz Allen Ventures investments include Latent
AI, Synthetaic, Reveal Technology, Credo AI, Hidden Level, Shift5,
Hidden Layer, and Second Front (2F).
Read more about Booz Allen Ventures and Booz Allen’s innovative
space solutions and capabilities.
About Booz Allen Hamilton Trusted to transform missions
with the power of tomorrow’s technologies, Booz Allen Hamilton
advances the nation’s most critical civil, defense, and national
security priorities. We lead, invest, and invent where it’s needed
most—at the forefront of complex missions, using innovation to
define the future. We combine our in-depth expertise in AI and
cybersecurity with leading-edge technology and engineering
practices to deliver impactful solutions. Combining more than 100
years of strategic consulting expertise with the perspectives of
diverse talent, we ensure results by integrating technology with an
enduring focus on our clients. We’re first to the future—moving
missions forward to realize our purpose: Empower People to Change
the World®.
With global headquarters in McLean, Virginia, our firm employs
approximately 33,100 people globally as of September 30, 2023 and
had revenue of $9.3 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2023.
To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)
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Media Relations: Amanda Allison-Martini, Allison_Amanda@bah.com
Investor Relations: Nathan P. Rutledge, Rutledge_Nathan@bah.com
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