01 · Product name
Umbra
A SAR operator with a no-signup open-data program and a commercial constellation.
Published by Umbra.
In short
Umbra builds and operates synthetic-aperture radar satellites. The open-data page says a selection of spotlight collects is free, updated often, and available without an account, under a Creative Commons license. It names resolutions of 25 cm, 35 cm, 50 cm, and 1 m, and it says the program watches 20 or more locations. The commercial constellation is a separate offer, and that page does not print a tasking price. A free scene is still a radar observation of a place. It is not a photograph and not a person.
Product pricing strategy
02
Free and paid
Umbra's open-data page says the published scenes do not require an account and are Creative Commons. It does not print a dollar price for commercial tasking. Do not turn SkyFi's FAQ line, archive SAR from $450 a scene and tasking from $675, into an Umbra price list. That line is what SkyFi charges for Umbra scenes sold there. A Vantor WorldView Radar order is a third checkout. Quote the seller whose page you opened.
Utility and features
03
umbra.space describes a U.S. company that builds sensors and spacecraft and sells remote sensing. The open-data page is the public collection: time-series SAR, no sign-up, spotlight products including GEC, SICD, SIDD, and CPHD on AWS. It says the set covers more than twenty locations, with weekly updates as the goal, more than a thousand locations in an assorted collection, and single-look spotlight at 25 cm, 35 cm, 50 cm, or 1 m plus multi-look spotlight. The license line says the open data is Creative Commons and that you can do almost anything with it. Sample labels on the page include a Bingham copper mine at 0.5 m and a North Dakota site at 1 m.
- Open scenes without an account. The open-data page says there is no sign-up and points at AWS spotlight products.
- A short list of places. Twenty or more time-series locations is the program. It is not every city.
- Commercial price lives on the seller's page. umbra.space did not print a tasking rate. SkyFi and Vantor are different checkouts.
That page does not print a commercial price for tasked collects. Vantor's homepage lists WorldView Radar as Umbra SAR inside a Vantor order, which is a different contract. SkyFi's FAQ quotes Umbra SAR on SkyFi starting at $450 a scene for archive and $675 a scene for tasking. Those are SkyFi's numbers. They are not printed on umbra.space. Use the page that matches the checkout you will actually use.
- 1
Search the open-data locations before you pay. If the site is listed, download that scene and note the resolution class.
- 2
Keep the Creative Commons line with the file so a later reader knows which license applied.
- 3
If the place is not in the open set, get a quote from the seller you will use and do not invent Umbra's rate.
- 4
Label the frame as SAR when you brief it next to an optical image.
Caveats
04
Open data is a sample of places Umbra chose, not a global basemap. The page says 20 or more monitored locations and a larger assorted set. If your site is not in the set, the free program does not answer the question. Weekly updates are the vendor's goal, not a guarantee that last night was imaged.
Spotlight resolutions are product classes. A 25 cm radar pixel is not a face. Creative Commons on the open program does not extend to a commercial scene you buy somewhere else. Read that order's license. The open-data page is a program description with sample sites. It is not a login to the tasking console, which this listing did not open.
Potential use cases
06
- You need a SAR time series and you want to know if Umbra already published the place. Open the open-data page and look for the site before anyone pays. The page says there is no sign-up, that the license is Creative Commons, and that the program watches 20 or more locations with a larger assorted set. If the site is listed, download that scene, note the resolution class, and keep the license line with the file.
- The place is not in the open set. Do not invent a tasking rate from umbra.space. That page did not print one. If the purchase will happen on SkyFi, quote SkyFi's FAQ, which said Umbra archive from $450 a scene and tasking from $675. If the purchase is Vantor WorldView Radar, quote that order. Write the seller's name next to the price so the next reader does not file it as Umbra's own card.
- A colleague treats the open program as a global basemap. The page's own scope is the locations it chose, and weekly updates are a goal. A missing week is a gap in the sample, not proof the satellite was idle, and not proof the site was quiet. Pair the SAR frame with an optical date when the question needs both sensors, and label which file is which.
Hard cases
The case where the first result is easy to over-read.
The Creative Commons line is copied onto a purchased scene
The open-data page limits that license to the open program. A scene bought through SkyFi or through Vantor has the license on that order. Read it. A 25 cm spotlight class is still radar. It is not a face, and it is not permission to republish a commercial file. If the sample label on the open page, such as the Bingham copper mine at 0.5 m, is the file you have, say it came from the open program and keep the date.
Questions
Is Umbra free?
The open-data program is free and does not require an account. Commercial tasking is a different sale, and umbra.space did not print that price.
Can you see a face in an Umbra scene?
No. These are radar products. The open page's sharpest named class is 25 cm spotlight, which is not a face.
Citations
07
Titled sources. These public pages are what the quotes on this listing come from.
Product
Umbra homepage
https://umbra.space/Documentation
Umbra open data
https://umbra.space/open-data/