NASA Puts Its Stamp of Quality on Commercial Satellite Data

NASA has officially approved data from private satellite company Satellogic's NewSat constellation for use in scientific research. The approval came through a quality assessment report published on March 9, 2026, by NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program.

Four Years of Data, 60 Images Scrutinized

NASA subject matter experts (SMEs) analyzed 60 top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance images collected between 2021 and 2025, examining radiometric and geometric accuracy across multiple observation sites.

On the radiometric side, the majority of spectral bands fell within 10% of NASA's reference satellite Aqua MODIS values, and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) met the 'Good' rating criteria for more than half of the bands.

Geometric performance exceeded sensor spatial response specifications, though variability was noted between sensor generations. The Mark IV received an 'Excellent' grade for spatial response, while the Mark V received a 'Basic' grade — a notable gap between generations.

Improvements Ongoing After Approval

Following the report's release, Satellogic updated parts of its data processing pipeline to address the report's findings and recommendations. CSDA is currently conducting an additional quality assessment of the revised products and expects to publish results in the near future.

About the CSDA Program

Established by NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD), the CSDA program identifies, evaluates, and acquires commercial remote sensing data to enhance NASA's Earth science capabilities. It serves as a bridge between the rapidly growing commercial satellite data ecosystem and NASA's evolving scientific needs.

Since its initial pilot, CSDA has conducted three on-ramp activities, bringing several vendors into sustained partnerships. Evaluation criteria include data accessibility, metadata completeness and accuracy, user support services, and usefulness for science and applications.

This latest approval reflects a growing trend of national space agencies formally validating commercial satellite data — signaling that the collaboration between government science programs and private satellite operators is becoming a structural feature of Earth observation.