Umbra is an American space technology company, described by the company as 100% U.S. owned, engineered, and operated, that provides precision synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. The company states it only sells what it flies itself, offering imaging in Dwell, Spotlight, and Scan modes.
positioning
- Umbra describes its radar imagery as "precision radar imagery, any condition, any time," emphasizing all-weather, day-and-night SAR coverage. as of 2026-10-29
- Umbra says it "only sells what it flies itself," positioning on-orbit proven performance as a differentiator from unflown or paper designs. as of 2026-10-29
- Umbra positions its constellation as seeing "what, where, and when others can't," framing persistent tasking access as its competitive edge. as of 2026-10-29
imaging modes
Spotlight (25 cm to 1 m)resolution0.25 mswath5 km
Extended Dwellresolution0.25 mswath5 km
Scan (0.5 / 1 / 2 m, strips up to 100 km)resolution0.5 mswathnot stated
facts
operatorUmbra
countryUSA
sensor typessar
sats launchedtotal12
sats activeclaimedunknown
sats activeverified7
sats planned32
orbit522 km - 535 km, 97.51 degrees
first launch2021-06-30
latest launch2026-01-11
statusoperational
websiteumbra.space
resolutionm0.25
revisitless than one hour for latitude bands +/- 67 degrees
spectral bandsX-band
sats active (verified) counts objects currently tracked in CelesTrak's catalog for this constellation. It is a tracking count, not an operator claim about satellite health.
orbit
sats launchedtotal12
sats activeclaimedunknown
sats activeverified7
sats planned32
orbit522 km - 535 km, 97.51 degrees
crawled events
- notable2026-08-05NRO awards Capella, ICEYE and Umbra new commercial radar-imagery contracts
- notable2026-07-09NASA finds Umbra SAR data misses geolocation accuracy spec
- notable2026-06-02Blue Origin, Boeing, Umbra revealed as Space Force SB-AMTI vendors
timeline
- 20242024-12-04Umbra selected for NRO Strategic Commercial Enhancements Stage IIIas of 2026-07-05
- 20232023-07-27Umbra releases over $1 million of free SAR data via Open Data Programas of 2026-07-05
- 2023-04-18Umbra's sixth satellite Umbra-06 achieves first light within 48 hoursas of 2026-07-05
- 20222022Umbra selected for NRO Commercial Radar Capabilities Stage II (per Umbra)as of 2026-07-05
- 20212021-07-16Umbra awarded $950M ceiling IDIQ contract following SpaceX launchas of 2026-07-05
- 2021-06-25Umbra launches its first commercial radar satellite on Transporter-2as of 2026-07-05
- 2021-01-06Umbra Lab rebrands to Umbra ahead of first launchas of 2026-07-05
- 20192019-12-31Umbra prepares to launch first group of SAR microsatellites after stealth R&Das of 2026-07-05
sources
[1] umbra.space ↗
operatorfirst-party2026-07-05countryfirst-party2026-07-05sensor typesfirst-party2026-07-05sats plannedfirst-party2026-07-05websitefirst-party2026-07-05resolution (m)first-party2026-07-09positioning claim 1first-party2026-10-29positioning claim 2first-party2026-10-29positioning claim 3first-party2026-10-29
[4] celestrak.org ↗
sats active (verified)computed2026-11-06
Includes data from Gunter's Space Page: doc_sdat/umbra-sar-2001.htm
faq
Who operates Umbra?
Umbra is operated by Umbra. as of 2026-07-05
How many Umbra satellites are active on orbit?
CelesTrak's catalog currently tracks 7 objects for Umbra. as of 2026-11-06
When did Umbra first launch?
Umbra first launched on 2021-06-30. as of 2026-07-05