Orbital Insight
Geospatial AI analytics platform using satellite and sensor data for defense and intelligence.
Orbital Insight builds Terrascope (formerly Orbital Insight GO), a SaaS platform that applies AI, computer vision, and data science to analyze satellite imagery, SAR, AIS, and connected device data at petabyte scale. The company provides geospatial intelligence for defense, national security, and commercial customers, and built an early flagship product tracking roughly 25,000 oil storage tanks via satellite. Kevin O'Brien served as CEO from November 2020 (after founder James Crawford moved to Chairman/CTO) through the company's 2023 financial distress and its acquisition by Privateer Space on May 6, 2024. Orbital Insight holds an NGA Project Aegir maritime domain awareness pilot contract (2024) and a prior NGA Phase II SBIR contract (2021) for synthetic training data.
Overview
- Headquarters
- Palo Alto, CA
- Founded
- 2013
- Employees
- 66
- Total funding
- $130M
- Stage
- Acquired by Privateer (2024)
- Status
- acquired
- Domains
- Geospatial analytics, AI/ML, Defense intelligence
- X / Twitter
- x.com/orbitalinsight
- Website
- orbitalinsight.com
Investors2
Cap table1
Approximate ownership by holder. Indexed holders link to their records.
Raised per round
Percentages marked ~ are not disclosed. Some are a generic VC-pattern model (founders/team weighted heaviest, option pool lightest, other holders evenly) sized to whatever's left undisclosed — a standard industry shape, not this company's actual cap table.
| Holder | Instrument | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
Emergency-round investors (amid near-bankruptcy)New | Preferred | ~100.0% |
Contracts2
Programs0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What does Orbital Insight do?
- Orbital Insight builds Terrascope (formerly Orbital Insight GO), a SaaS platform that applies AI, computer vision, and data science to analyze satellite imagery, SAR, AIS, and connected device data at petabyte scale. The company provides geospatial intelligence for defense, national security, and commercial customers, and built an early flagship product tracking roughly 25,000 oil storage tanks via satellite. Kevin O'Brien served as CEO from November 2020 (after founder James Crawford moved to Chairman/CTO) through the company's 2023 financial distress and its acquisition by Privateer Space on May 6, 2024. Orbital Insight holds an NGA Project Aegir maritime domain awareness pilot contract (2024) and a prior NGA Phase II SBIR contract (2021) for synthetic training data.
- Where is Orbital Insight headquartered?
- Orbital Insight is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and was founded in 2013.
- How much funding has Orbital Insight raised?
- Orbital Insight has raised $130M in disclosed funding.
- What does Orbital Insight specialize in?
- Orbital Insight works across Geospatial analytics, AI/ML, Defense intelligence.
- Does Orbital Insight hold government contracts?
- Defense Tech Atlas links Orbital Insight to 2 government contracts.
Sources & citations5
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Orbital Insight lands $20 million from investors led by GV, with CME Ventures, Sequoia, Lux Capital, Bloomberg Beta, and In-Q-Tel
TechCrunch: Orbital Insight lands $20 million from investors led by GVVerified2016-06-27 - 2
Orbital Insight announces $50 million investment led by Sequoia to scale satellite and drone imagery analysis
GlobeNewswire: Orbital Insight Announces $50 Million Investment Led by SequoiaVerified2017-05-02 - 3
Orbital Insight appoints Kevin O'Brien as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding founder James Crawford who moves to Chairman/CTO
PR Newswire: Orbital Insight Appoints Kevin O'Brien as Chief Executive OfficerVerified2020-11-30 - 4
- 5
Orbital Insight, Wikipedia overview: history, offices (Arlington VA, NYC, Tokyo, London, Singapore), Terrascope platform
Wikipedia: Orbital InsightReported2026-06-01