Two former MDA employees, Wade Larson and George Tyc, founded UrtheCast in 2010. It got a boost from Calgary-based accelerator Business Instincts Group, which helped it raise $52 million in financing to fund the installation of two cameras on the ISS “to stream live data back down to Earth.”
UrtheCast and its strategic partners have worked to develop synthetic aperture radar technologies “with the intention of incorporating SAR sensory technology into a constellation of synchronized satellites” for the OptiSAR project. Meanwhile for UrtheDaily, UrtheCast is developing a second constellation of synchronized satellites equipped with optical Earth-observation sensors.
But that date got pushed by about two years to May 2021 thanks to “technical design, production error and unsatisfactory deliverables produced by the project’s subcontractors,” as well as delays due to political forces, including Brexit and U.K.-Saudi Arabia relations. Then the pandemic hit.
The company expects its shares may be delisted from trading. UrtheCast’s proposed restructuring includes a sale and investment solicitation process to monetize some of its assets, including its two ISS cameras. It also needs to secure interim financing for short-term liquidity, as well as long-term funding for its major projects. The court granted UrtheCast the ability to start looking for a buyer for the ISS cameras.
It received several bids and engaged in further due diligence with one of the potential buyers, “but ultimately could not complete the sale due to regulatory constraints in its country.” It re-engaged with another bidder, but did not provide further information in the court document.