Edmonton space start-up looking to the stars as it prepares for first satellite launch

An Edmonton-based company will launch its first satellite into space early next month, an achievement it hopes will help cement the emerging sector in the city.

Formed in 2018, Wyvern Space will send its hyperspectral imaging satellite, Dragonette 1, into orbit for four years.

For CEO Chris Robson, this will be the second satellite he is sending to space. While a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alberta, he was part of the AlbertaSAT club that designs, builds and tests new CubeSats.

"I'm really excited for it," Robson told CTV News Edmonton. "I'm also a little bit nervous."

"The launch is always a little bit nerve-wracking. You are putting it on this really advanced piece of technology which, in all honesty, is a controlled explosion that puts something into space. It's the hardest part of the process."

Dragonette 1 will capture hyperspectral optical data to be used for agricultural and environmental monitoring. It was designed by Wyvern in Edmonton and built by a contractor in Scotland.

"If you took two loaves of bread and you stuck them together, that's how big it is," Robson said.

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After it's launched using a SpaceX transporter at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, Wyvern will manage the collection and processing of imagery. The satellite will complete an orbit around Earth once approximately every 100 minutes.

"Dragonette is a baby dragon. And so because it's our first one, we thought it'd be cute to give that name to the satellite," Robson said.

Hyperspectral imagery is more useful than other simple-colour images, Robson explained, as the satellite can analyze a greater spectrum of light. He gave the example of a photo showing a farmer's field.

A standard colour satellite would show it is brown, suggesting it may be unhealthy. Hyperspectral images can provide insight into chemical properties, better describing what is happening.

A side-by-side comparison showing the difference between what a hyperspectral imaging satellite (left) would capture versus a simple colour (RBG) satellite (Source: Wyvern Space Inc.).

"It's a strange feeling that your company is finally launching them into space," Robson said. "It's like Christmas morning."

Robson and three other University of Alberta alumni founded Wyvern to build the option of working in the space industry in the province's capital city. It now employs 30 people who hope to send two more satellites into orbit this year.

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"There's not really a space industry in Alberta," Robson said. "If you wanted to work in the space industry, definitely before the pandemic anyway, you would have to go, and you'd have to find a space company in another province, typically Ontario, Quebec or Manitoba.

"Or you'd have to move to Europe or New Zealand," he added. "By being local, living and working in Edmonton is great.

"Because there is also a lot of local knowledge out of industries like oil and gas, a lot of expertise and talent coming out of the University of Alberta, we also have our pick of really great talent here who know what they are doing."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti