 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 2009 |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Canada |
Key people | Peter Mabson, CEO |
| Products | Satellite AIS Data Services and Solutions |
| Parent | Spire Global |
| Website | https://www.exactEarth.com |
exactEarth Ltd is a Canadian company that specializes in data services that deliver real-time global location-based maritime vessel tracking information utilizing patentedsatellite AIS detection technology.
exactEarth provides satellite AIS data services to commercial markets as well as government customers inIndia,Canada,United States,Australia and acrossEurope.[1][2]
Founded in 2009, exactEarth is based inCambridge, Ontario, Canada. The company was publicly traded until 2021 whenSpire Global acquired the company.
In 2005,COM DEV International first recognized that theAIS messages being transmitted by major ships could potentially be received from space. COM DEV validated its AIS detection capability through aircraft trials in 2007 and launched ananosatellite (EV0) in April 2008.[3]
exactEarth commenced commercial operations in June 2009.[3] In September 2010,Hisdesat acquired a 27% equity interest in the company for a cash investment of approximately CA$15 million, with COM DEV retaining a 73% equity interest.[3]
On 23 June 2015, exactEarth filed a Preliminary Prospectus withCanadian Securities Administrators, announcing their intentions to launch anInitial public offering (IPO).[3] However, on 5 November 2015, exactEarth's largest shareholder, COM DEV, announced plans for an acquisition byHoneywell with exactEarth spinning out into its own publicly traded company.[4] exactEarth's prospectus was abandoned. COM DEV shareholders approved the acquisition on 21 January 2016, with each COM DEV shareholder receiving 0.1977 exactEarth stock for every COM DEV stock held.[5] Final court approval of the acquisition came on 25 January 2016.[6]
On 9 February 2016, exactEarth became a publicly traded company, trading on theToronto Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol of XCT.[7] For a while,HISDESAT Servicios Estratégicos S.A.[8] was the largest stakeholder. However, in December 2021, the company was acquired bySpire Global and its stock were de-listed from the TSX.[9]
On 8 June 2015, exactEarth announced a partnership withHarris Corporation to build 58 AIS detecting payloads to be launched on board theIridium NEXT satellite constellation.[10] It is expected that this constellation will provide global average revisit times and customer data latency of less than one minute.[11]
As of October 2015, exactEarth operates a satellite constellation consisting of 9 satellites.[12]
| Name | Satellite Catalog Number | Launch date | Launch vehicle | Constructor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CANX 6 (EV0) | 32784 | 28 April 2008 | Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle | Retired, used for R&D | |
| ExactView-1 (EV1) | 38709 | 22 July 2012 | Soyuz-FG | Surrey Satellite Technology Limited[13] | |
| Resourcesat-2 (EV2) | 37387 | 20 April 2011 | Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-G | ||
| AprizeSat-6 (EV6) | 37793 | 17 August 2011 | Dnepr | ||
| AprizeSat-7 (EV5R) | 39416 | 21 November 2013 | Dnepr | ||
| AprizeSat-8 (EV12) | 39425 | 21 November 2013 | Dnepr | ||
| AprizeSat-9 (EV11) | 40018 | 19 June 2014 | Dnepr | ||
| AprizeSat-10 (EV13) | 40019 | 19 June 2014 | Dnepr | ||
| ExactView-9 (EV9) | 40936 | 28 September 2015 | Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL | ||
| M3MSat (EV7) | 41605 | 22 June 2016 | Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL | ||
| PAZ (EV10) | 43215 | 22 February 2018 | Falcon 9 Full Thrust |
exactEarth satellite AIS data was used in security efforts at the2010 Olympics andParalympics.[14]
exactEarth satellite AIS data was used in the ship emission modelling project of theFinnish Meteorological Institute.[15]
exactEarth satellite AIS data aids ScanEx RDC in identifying illegal shipping within marine protected natural areas.[16]
In 2009, exactEarth technology was recognized at the Ontario Premier's Innovation Awards for developing a satellite system for their work onsatellite AIS.[17]
