Dragonfly Aerospace

Dragonfly Aerospace, based in South Africa, specializes in the production of high-performance imaging satellites and payloads.

Its key offerings include (1) its satellite products including EOS SAT-1, Komodosat, Raptorsat and Dragonfly-C, (2) a variety of advanced cameras designed for CubeSats and MicroSatellites, and (3) satellite buses.

Notably, its Earth observation satellite AgriSAT-1/ZA 008 was the first-ever commercial satellite licensed in South Africa.

Dragonfly Aerospace's flagship product, the EOS SAT-1, is an agriculture-focused satellite. The satellite was the first constructed by Dragonfly Aerospace, and was launched from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral, Florida site as part of the Transporter-6 mission in January 2023. This satellite is the initial member of a seven-satellite constellation in low Earth orbit, developed for EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA). The deployment of the remaining six satellites was planned over the following three years.

Its other satellite products include KomodoSat, Raptorsat, and Dragonfly-C. KomodoSat is a multispectral imaging satellite designed for Earth observation and space situational awareness, while RaptorSat is designed for applications such as maritime domain awareness, disaster management, urban planning, and defense. The Dragonfly-C features advanced onboard processing for real-time SAR image formation, ground moving target identification, and object detection and tracking.

Dragonfly Aerospace’s range of CubeSat cameras include models like Gecko, Mantis, Chameleon, and Komodo, providing high-resolution imaging for Earth observation and are designed for various CubeSat sizes and applications, including agricultural monitoring and emergency response. Dragonfly Aerospace also offers advanced smallsat cameras designed for Earth observation with products such as the Dragoneye, a high-resolution imager for small satellites, and the Raptor, which achieves sub-meter resolution for larger smallsats. These cameras are built to capture panchromatic and multispectral images, providing detailed views of the Earth's surface, useful for monitoring forests, water, agriculture, and more.

In August 2024, the company unveiled a range of its Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and ITAR-Free space components that secured Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL 9) for its microsatellites and spacecraft.

Dragonfly Aerospace also offers several satellite bus platforms designed for various payloads and missions. These platforms include the µDragonfly Bus, a 100-kg-class bus designed for electro-optical imagers and high-speed scanning devices; the Dragonfly Bus, a 150-kg-class bus specifically tailored for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads; and the ηDragonfly Bus, a nano-class bus equipped for high-performance imaging payloads with validated avionics components. These satellite buses are engineered to support cost-effective, reliable, and flexible Earth observation missions, featuring high data transfer speeds and long operational lifespans.

Key customers and partnerships

Customers include the Australian Government's Office of National Intelligence, EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA), Loft Orbital, and Indian startup Pixxel. Notably, Dragonfly Aerospace’s Gecko satellite imager was incorporated in the satellite LICIACube, which was part of NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, aimed at testing Earth's defense technology against potential asteroid collisions (November 2021).

A key partner of Dragonfly is Spire Global, with which Dragonfly collaborated to develop a satellite for the Australian Government’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI) as a part of its National Intelligence Community Satellite (NICSAT) program (February 2022). The company also collaborated with SpaceX to launch its EOS-SAT 1 satellite into orbit (January 2023).

Other partners include Elecnor Deimos, Neuraspace, NanoAvionics (US), Space JLTZ (Mexico), Polytechnical University of Atlacomulco (Mexico), and CubeCom (South Africa).