Cassi Welling, MD at constellr: Checking Planet Earth’s Temperature

Tell us about constellr.

 

constellr is a pioneering (thermal) data analytics company which precisely monitors land surface temperatures on Earth from space. We’re building our ‘HiVE’ constellation, a network of proprietary microsatellites. Even with a single microsatellite, we can measure the temperature anywhere on Earth, and as we deploy more to complete the constellation, revisit times will become progressively shorter.

Our technology delivers unparalleled accuracy and quality in a condensed microsatellite package, allowing for market-leading image resolution and a reduced cost base.

We’re helping industries from agriculture to infrastructure, to forestry and urban development.

Whether it’s assisting farmers in managing their water usage, or helping urban planners identify heat islands, we’re supporting smarter, data-driven decisions for a climate-resilient future.

 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 

constellr was founded by a team of scientists who realised that they had developed some incredibly innovative and effective technology for measuring temperature. Temperature affects everything, and small changes in temperature can rapidly identify problems from infrastructure damage to pest infestations. At the same time, pressing global challenges like the enormous water demands of agriculture require better, more precise data to drive smarter decisions.

Addressing these critical issues for industries that sustain billions of people is a core part of constellr’s mission. constellr is about democratising access to this critical data, making it easy to understand so our customers can generate real insight without requiring a sophisticated understanding of satellite imagery.

 

 

What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

 

Focus on solving real, global problems. The most impactful businesses address critical challenges in areas like climate and sustainability. Innovation is important, but execution is key. Build a strong, adaptable team, and embrace collaboration. Also, leverage data-driven decision-making – whether with satellite intelligence or in business – seeing the bigger picture always gives you an edge. For ours, for example, it’s that overall space solutions in Earth observation are more cost-effective and accurate for our customers.

 

What excites you about constellr?

 

Our data is collected with market-leading precision and as we capture temperature directly rather than extrapolating from photos, no context is required to understand it. We break the world down into 30m squares, each showing a different temperature, highly accurate to 1-2 Kelvin.

What really excites me about this company is the incredibly broad scope of practical applications.

Temperature is such a fundamental variable in understanding the health of our planet, and even we haven’t discovered all the use cases yet. The possibilities are endless.

The technology also integrates seamlessly with Earth observation programmes like Copernicus Sentinel-2. We’re developing groundbreaking solutions to tackle global challenges, all from space.

 

How has the company evolved?

 

constellr has transformed from a vision into a tangible, innovative technology. The most important thing for an (thermal) data analytics company is to get your tech into orbit and start collecting data.

We successfully tested our thermal imaging aboard the ISS, identifying a bark beetle infestation in a German forest – and in January 2025 launched our first satellite, which was an incredible moment. We’ve also secured funding from the European Space Agency (ESA), partnered with the German Space Agency (DLR), and are now moving into the next phase: building our full satellite constellation.

 

What can we hope to see from constellr in the future?

 

In the future, constellr aims to scale its impact. As we expand our HiVE satellite constellation, we’ll offer even greater coverage and real-time insights to tackle temperature-related challenges.

We’re keen to continue working alongside both public organisations such as the European Space Agency and private organisations. Expect deeper integration into industries like agriculture, urban planning, and infrastructure. We’re also focusing on improving how we translate data into our customers’ needs, with a strong emphasis on expanding into the US market. Looking ahead, embracing data fusion and advanced modelling is key to our offering, and as the amount of data grows, we’ll enhance our predictive analytics capabilities – delivering even more powerful temperature insights for our customers.