Portugal Colonial - Hydrosat Secures Major European Contract to Advance Large-Scale Water Productivity Mapping

LUXEMBOURG, LU / ACCESS Newswire / August 28, 2025 / Hydrosat, a company leveraging thermal satellite data and AI to address global challenges in food production, security, and natural resource management, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA), under the LuxIMPULSE programme, to develop a large-scale water productivity tool for regional and national applications.

Governments and agricultural stakeholders are under mounting pressure to optimise water use while balancing the competing demands of cities, industry, and the environment. Addressing this challenge requires accurate, crop-specific insights into water needs, usage patterns, soil moisture, and yield forecasts - all information that has historically been limited or unreliable.

Hydrosat's solution will enable large-scale mapping of water availability and productivity, transforming complex data into actionable insights for on-the-ground decision-making. The tool will support climate resilience, food security, and sustainable resource management at national and regional levels.

"Water scarcity is one of the greatest threats to global food security, and we cannot solve what we don't measure," said Royce Dalby, President of Hydrosat. "This contract with ESA marks a significant step forward in equipping governments and institutions with the tools they need to monitor and improve water productivity at scale. By combining satellite thermal imagery, advanced analytics, and AI, we are helping ensure that every drop of water counts in feeding a growing world."

The proprietary models will identify problem areas and optimise water use at both regional and field levels. The system first pinpoints specific fields or zones where water use is inefficient relative to crop yield and then assesses the gap between current and optimal productivity, accounting for local environmental and agricultural conditions. Using this framework, the company will be able to identify the underlying causes of low water productivity, such as inefficient irrigation or inadequate infrastructure.

"Hydrosat's smart water management solution combines high-resolution thermal imagery with advanced AI to transform complex environmental data into actionable insights at scale," said Albert Abelló, Director of Engineering at Hydrosat. "By integrating satellite-derived surface temperatures with agronomic and climate data, we provide field-level analysis that enables governments and institutions to implement effective policies to optimise water use and increase crop yield efficiency."

The development of Hydrosat's water productivity solution is being funded by the Government of Luxembourg through an ESA Contract in the Luxembourg National Space Programme, LuxIMPULSE, implemented by the Luxembourg Space Agency.

Mathias Link, deputy CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency, commented: "Hydrosat has been developing remarkably and is providing tangible evidence that Space has a lot to offer to Earth, and can be a cornerstone in addressing current and pressing environmental challenges. We are looking forward to these new advancements."

Since its founding, Hydrosat has achieved steady growth and delivered industry-leading surface temperature data products to serve customers across more than 10 million acres of farmland in over 60 countries around the world. The recent successful launch of its second satellite, VanZyl-2, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-14 mission marks another key milestone in the company's expanding Earth observation capabilities and innovative data products that address global water scarcity issues.

Hydrosat is scaling its mission to deliver climate resilience and food security solutions for a water-stressed world.

About Hydrosat

Hydrosat leverages thermal satellite data and AI to address critical global challenges in food production, security, and natural resource management. Hydrosat currently monitors millions of acres for customers such as NOAA, NRO, Bayer, SupPlant, and Nutradrip, who trust the company's high-resolution, timely satellite thermal imagery to deliver advanced analytics that convey precise crop yield forecasts and improved irrigation tools to agricultural, commercial, and public sector customers around the globe.

For more information, visit https://hydrosat.com/

About the Luxembourg Space Agency

Established in 2018 with the goal of developing the national space sector, the Luxembourg Space Agency fosters new and existing companies, develops human resources, facilitates access to funding and provides support for academic research. The agency implements the national space economic development strategy, manages national space research and development programs, and leads the SpaceResources.lu initiative. The LSA also represents Luxembourg within the European Space Agency, as well as the space related programs of the European Union and the United Nations.

About ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe's gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int

Hydrosat Press Contact:

Christine Vlachou
Marketing & Communications Manager
[email protected]

Luxembourg Space Agency Press Contact:

Juliette Pertuy
Head of Communication & Talent Development
[email protected]

SOURCE: Hydrosat

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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