HEAD Aerospace

HEAD Aerospace (HEAD) is a provider of upstream space products in China. The company provides upstream space products by introducing a significant number of space products and services of international aerospace companies into China, developing geospatial solutions based on earth observation satellites, and operating Internet-of-Things (IoT) constellation. HEAD was founded in 2007 and is a privately-owned company headquartered in Beijing, with a presence in Hong Kong, France, and the Netherlands.

Map of the Skywalker constellation.

The Skywalker satellite constellation operated by HEAD includes 48 satellites with data collection capability from ground-based terminals with data transfers every hour to a few minutes at a time depending on the latitude. The constellation includes AIS, VDES, and ADS-B payloads for global ship detection and airplane monitoring services. As well, the company offers data collection services.

The company suggests the constellation is capable of services within three larger sections, including data collection systems, AIS applications, and ADS-B applications. For data collection, this includes:

• Vehicle and Vessel assessments
• Logistics management
• Grid monitoring
• Resources survey
• Industries data collecting
• Trans-Oceanic communication

For AIS applications, this includes:

• Vessel navigation
• Accident judgment
• Port management
• No Man's Land navigation
• Emergency rescue
• Maritime information

And, for ADS-B applications, this includes:

• High precision flight positioning
• Route optimization
• Airport management
• Route management
• Rescue operations

HEAD offers users the Skywalker Communication Terminal which allows users to request specific information or uses, monitor those, and receive data from the satellites. This can be used either for IoT applications or can be extended to the company Earth observation services. The platform offers data and analytics of the information, while it communicates via satellite and ground stations to the IoT terminals and related sensors, tags, and trackers.

The constellation has access to over forty satellites and has at least 20 launches scheduled over 2021 to increase the constellation to more than 80 Earth observation satellites by 2022. This allows HEAD to offer customers new images over an area of interest at high resolution and several times per day. The company suggests its Earth observation and geospatial solutions cover various markets, including:

• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Energy
• Mining
• Environment
• Water
• Transportation
• Defense
• Civil government
• Maritime imagery
• Disaster management