Headquartered in Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company engaged in the research, design, development and manufacture of advanced technology systems.
The British Business Bank contributed £5m to the £30m financing alongside several new and existing backers.
"SatVu has created a unique technology at a time of great demand for defence innovation. They have proved the strategic value of their technology so we are pleased to provide the funding that will help them to scale and win further contracts."
The funding round forms part of a wider £20m financing package to accelerate the deployment of the HotSat constellation.
"With the invaluable new support from Adara Ventures, alongside the continued backing of our existing investor network, we’re accelerating our mission to deliver unparalleled thermal insights that empower industries and governments to take decisive climate action. The launch of HotSat-2 and HotSat-3 will bring us closer to a net-zero future by providing the data needed to address the most pressing environmental and energy challenges of our time."
The round was led by Molten Ventures to fund commercialisation ahead of the company's first satellite launch.
"We’re leading SatelliteVu’s funding round as it prepares for its June launch. Their unique technology tackles key climate issues, and we’re impressed with their commercial progress. Their $160m in early commitments is a stellar model of pre-launch sales for deep-tech companies, which other climate-tech firms could emulate."
The Series B round was led by Autodesk with backing from Lockheed Martin and British Patient Capital.
"When people think of manufacturing, they tend to think of robotic car factories, and don’t realise that the industry is dominated by craft processes reliant on dwindling expert knowledge. This makes it incredibly complex to get things made, stifling the pace of innovation,"
The second close of the Series A round was joined by participants including Lockheed Martin, In-Q-Tel, and Contrarian Ventures.
"We are thrilled to have raised further funding to propel our expansion into the US market. Our advanced thermal infrared camera will be able to offer unique, previously unseen insights into human activity and the full constellation will enable up to twenty revisits per day of a single location anywhere on the planet. The funding supports the development of new applications and enables closer collaboration on proof of concepts with our customers. This investment further demonstrates that our technology offers potential benefits for national security capabilities, and we look forward to building and expanding our relationship with partners overseas, particularly the US."