Tech investment
Cambridge company will use data from satellites and ships to track vessels in real time
Ottawa puts millions into exact Earth’s ship-tracking technology
CAMBRIDGE — The federal government is putting $7.2 million into exactEarth Ltd. to help the company advance its groundbreaking technology that tracks ships around the world.
“This is precisely the kind of initiative and forward thinking we want to encourage,” said Marwan Tabbara, MP for Kitchener South-Hespeler, in a presentation at the company’s headquarters Friday morning.
ExactEarth is spending $14.4 million to advance its satellite-enabled tracking services, and the grant from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund will cover half of that.
“It will use advanced big data analytics to quickly assess maritime data, which holds great potential for the shipping industry,” said Tabbara.
By upgrading its satellite network, exactEarth will reduce the time it takes to receive and process information from one hour to a few minutes. That will help ships better navigate the oceans, and quickly change direction based on new information.
“It will help maritime ships optimize their routes, leading to a reduced impact on the ocean environment,” said Tabbara. “ExactEarth is collaborating with universities and research institutions to develop a satellite system to reduce the number of collisions between whales and ships.”
Founded in 2009, the company developed technology that uses satellites and transponder signals from ships to track vessels at sea. The funding announced Friday will help maintain 67 jobs at exactEarth in Cambridge.
The grant from the federal government will help exactEarth enhance its technology, creating the world’s first real-time ship tracking satellite system. Ships at sea will receive updated information every few minutes about what is ahead of them, over the horizon, which can not be seen by people steering the vessels.
That technology can also be used to increase maritime safety, monitor the Arctic, protect marine life and watch tanker traffic in real time, said Peter Mabson, exactEarth’s chief executive officer.
In 2015, Honeywell International Inc. acquired Com Dev, the Cambridge-based manufacturer of space hardware systems. As part of that deal, exactEarth was spun out as a separate, publicly traded company.
Canada’s space industry alone includes more than 100 firms and organizations, delivers $2.3 billion gross domestic product, and employs nearly 10,000 people in well-paying, middle-class jobs, says Ottawa.
“That makes it a very promising ecosystem to invest in,” said Tabbara.
The funds will see more intellectual property developed and retained in Canada, and advance collaboration among exactEarth, universities and research institutions.