Property tech start-up Orbital Witness is bringing a new way of thinking to property transactions. The London-based company won ‘IT Product of the Year’ at the British Legal Technology Awards 2020 in November with a unique product, developed in collaboration with ESA Space Solutions.

Orbital Witness’s hunch that property due diligence was trapped in the past (slow, costly, and an ‘indemnity hot potato’) turned out to be correct. With the support of ESA Space Solutions, the team has now created a platform for real estate lawyers to review and understand property risks with a much higher degree of insight and efficiency than has previously been possible.  

Time travel for real estate

Many questions in real estate law have a historic dimension but until now there’s been no easy way for a real estate lawyer to ‘look back in time’ and make enquiries relating to the past. Lawyers have had no choice but to carry out lengthy investigative processes or, on occasion, manually acquire aerial photography.

Orbital Witness now arms users with detailed historic information at the outset of a property transaction, using satellite imagery archives for a historic overview.

“Orbital Witness uses archives of very high-resolution (sub-1m) optical satellite imagery with enough clarity for real estate professionals to be able to spot important details such as a change of use at a site, a structural change to a property, or a boundary movement,” says Fausto Vieira, Technical Officer at ESA.

“The space added value of this satellite imagery provides the first standardised view for real estate professionals to visualise and give a reliable legal indication of the historic development of a site. It’s doubly impressive as this platform has the power to aggregate data from multiple sources.”

The pilot demonstration in collaboration with ESA Space Solutions saw the successful integration of satellite imagery archives and property datasets (such as contextual information sourced from places such as HM Land Registry) into a production-ready real estate intelligence platform. 

“This has the potential to reduce the cost and turnaround time it takes for property lawyers to deliver accurate and immediate insights to clients,” says Will Pearce, Co-Founder, Orbital Witness.  “Lawyers can finally start spending time on higher-value advisory work instead of lengthy, paper based due diligence.” 

Orbital Witness’ vision is to eventually build a ‘Universal Risk Rating’ for all types of property transactions – a solution that has the potential to automate due diligence for property transactions. 

“It’s a revolution in common sense where access to property information is front-loaded and simplified so anyone interested in real estate can get a clear picture of a property before spending significant amounts of time or money,” says Pearce. 

Orbital Witness, also an ESA BIC alumnus, is already at a commercial phase with a range of first customers adopting the product even before the end of the project. An extension to the project is currently being prepared, expanding the reach of the application to insurance and surveying sectors.

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go to place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. ESA Space Solutions is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, ESA Business Applications Ambassadors and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from €50k to €2M and supports everything from technology transfer, business incubation, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects.

The future of space exploration depends on humanity’s ability to extract resources in space because it won’t be possible to transport everything we need from Earth. To help prepare the way, a new ESA Space Resources Competition will support teams to develop services for mining on Earth that are also relevant to future use in space.

In-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) will be key to supplying future space explorers with food, shelter, energy, water and air. Although ISRU is a futuristic concept, it has great potential for accelerating key technologies on Earth. 

Among these ISRU requirements is mining. Mining on Earth and in space share similar aims and face similar challenges. As a result, ESA Space Solutions will provide up to €200,000 per team through a new Space Resources Competition for the development of new mining services to be exploited on Earth that could then be used in space. Examples include minimising the use of water, optimising remote and autonomous operations, precision mining using agile machinery and use of renewable energy.

Using space resources for exploration could save between €54 billion and €135 billion up to 2045, while the space resources industry is expected to generate a market revenue of €73 billion to €170 billion, according to the Luxembourg Space Agency. The spill over benefits from the technology and knowledge gains are forecast to be around €2.5 billion over 50 years.¹

Rita Rinaldo, Head of Partner-Led and Thematic Initiatives at ESA Space Solutions said: “We know that mining processes on Earth should be improved, not least to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Importantly, some of the challenges and opportunities for terrestrial mining are similar to the ones we will face in space. That’s why this competition focuses on development of new mining services for both environments, not solely for space.”

Reducing the use of water in mining 

Reducing water usage has become a key sustainability challenge for mining operations. On Earth, mining uses considerable amounts of water, reducing the levels of ground water, depleting surface water and causing pollution to local rivers. In space, water is a rare and highly sought-after resource, so space mining equipment should not rely on water at all. 

Perfecting remote and autonomous operations 

Autonomous and remotely-controlled operations already play a part in digging, drilling, excavating and transporting materials, reducing risk and making it easier to do tasks in inaccessible locations. In space, using autonomous robots for prospecting, exploration and mining will limit the need for personnel and reduce the amount of supplies required. Total automation, with fully sensitive and adaptable systems, will benefit both.

Using light, agile and precise mining equipment

Mining often involves large machinery moving great volumes of earth to extract valuable materials, which is costly on Earth and will be impossible in space. In future, precise cutting, blasting and in-mine processing techniques could accurately target the ore and leave the waste behind, with small, agile mining machines used to extract the deposit economically and sustainably. New remote sensing techniques for prospecting and effective techniques for processing would also be beneficial.

Powering mining machinery using renewable energy

Mining operations have high energy demands but often take place in remote locations, where it is expensive to connect to power grids and in space that would be impossible. Solar could provide cost-efficient, reliable energy supplies and decrease emissions. For mining in space, solar arrays will need to be manoeuvrable, easy to deploy, efficient, light and robust, and ideally manufactured in space using safe materials readily available in situ.

More about ESA’s Space Resources Competition:

ESA’s Space Resources Competition opens on 19 April 2021 and has a closing date of 30 June 2021. For more details about the competition and how to apply, visit this page. The webinar to present this competition will take place at 11:00 CEST on 14 April 2021. To join the webinar, register here.

Note:
¹Opportunities for Space Resources Utilization, Future Markets & Value Chains; Luxembourg Space Agency; December 2018

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go to place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. ESA Space Solutions is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, ESA Business Applications Ambassadors and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from €50k to €2M and supports everything from technology transfer, business incubation, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects.