SatVu reveals refinery activity in first HotSat-2 images

SatVu has released early imagery from its HotSat-2 satellite showing activity at energy sites in Cuba, India and Australia. The images are the first public output from the company's second thermal imaging satellite.

The British earth observation company says the pictures show live thermal activity at the Hermanos Díaz refinery in Santiago de Cuba, the Jamnagar oil refinery in Gujarat and the Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island in Western Australia. The data offers an independent view of whether major industrial assets are operating, idle or running below normal levels.

The Cuba image is likely to draw the most attention. SatVu says it recorded thermal activity at the Hermanos Díaz refinery two days before the Cuban government announced it had produced refined products from domestic crude in an experimental trial. The refinery is one of four in Cuba that stopped operating after the Venezuelan oil embargo.

The timing places the image in the middle of Cuba's efforts to ease fuel shortages and reduce reliance on constrained external supplies while the country remains under sanctions pressure. SatVu says thermal infrared imagery can reveal operational activity rather than simply showing physical infrastructure.

Industrial signals

At Jamnagar, HotSat-2 captured active flaring at six locations across the southern portion of the site. SatVu says comparisons with optical imagery showed other flare structures that did not appear active in the thermal data, suggesting parts of the complex were not in use at the time the image was collected.

The site's power station also showed only two active exhaust stack signatures, which SatVu says points to lower energy generation and reduced refining throughput. Jamnagar is the world's largest oil refinery complex, so any indication of lower utilisation is closely watched by commodity traders and energy analysts.

In Australia, HotSat-2 imaged the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG project at night. SatVu says the image showed ongoing processing and gas flaring outside daylight hours, offering a view of round-the-clock production activity at one of the world's largest LNG developments.

The release highlights a wider push by satellite companies to sell more operational intelligence to governments, financial firms, industrial operators and regulators. Thermal imaging is becoming a larger part of that market because it can indicate heat output from industrial equipment, flares, furnaces and exhaust systems that may not be visible in conventional optical satellite images.

Monitoring shift

SatVu argues this matters most where on-the-ground verification is difficult, delayed or politically sensitive. Energy infrastructure in sanctioned or remote jurisdictions can be hard to assess independently, especially when official disclosures are limited or lag events on the ground.

"SatVu was founded to give governments and customers access to intelligence they cannot get elsewhere," said Anthony Baker, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, SatVu.

"With HotSat-2 in orbit, that capability is operational. These images show what independent thermal data delivers in the markets that need it most, sanctions monitoring, energy security, and the operational state of the assets moving global commodities.

"The appetite across national security, economic and environmental monitoring is a powerful validation of what we are building," added Baker.

Scott Herman, Chief Technology Officer, SatVu, set out the company's case for thermal infrared as a distinct data layer for industrial monitoring.

"Thermal infrared shows what other sensors miss. SatVu changes the game for global monitoring missions, daytime and nighttime high-resolution thermal imagery from space delivers unprecedented insight into operational activities at facilities anywhere in the world," said Scott Herman, Chief Technology Officer, SatVu.

"The Cuba image, captured before public acknowledgment of the refinery's restart, illustrates exactly what thermal intelligence makes possible: independent verification of activity in places that are otherwise difficult to monitor," said Herman.

"This new data layer enables a higher level of operational understanding and validation: confirming what is running, when and at what intensity. On or off, hot or not. For commodity traders, energy operators, intelligence agencies and environmental regulators, this highly valuable operational understanding directly informs commercial positioning, risk assessment and strategic decision-making," added Herman.

Constellation plans

SatVu has attracted institutional backing as it builds out its satellite network. The company says it secured investment from the NATO Innovation Fund, taking total equity funding to £60 million. HotSat-2 launched on SpaceX's Transporter-16 mission, and SatVu is working towards a larger constellation intended to increase the frequency of observations.

Its current pitch is that thermal imagery can fill a gap left by electro-optical and synthetic aperture radar systems. Optical satellites can show infrastructure clearly in daylight, while radar can track structural change through cloud and darkness, but neither records heat directly in the way thermal infrared does.

That distinction is central to SatVu's case that satellite imagery can move beyond mapping assets to assessing industrial utilisation. In energy markets where sanctions, supply disruption and opaque reporting can quickly alter prices, the ability to detect whether refineries, LNG plants or power units are active has clear commercial and strategic value.

HotSat-2 captured thermal activity at the Hermanos Díaz refinery 48 hours before Cuba publicly acknowledged its experimental production of diesel, naphtha and other fuels from domestic heavy crude.