Meet the man trying to build a 20cm 3D map of the world: Andrew Peterson - #MBM74

Minds Behind Maps

Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Array Labs, with a simple mission: Mapping the whole world in 3D, at 20cm in near real time.

We peel the layers as to what it takes to get there: the engineering that’s required, how to build a constellation to do that, how you fund such a project.

Sponsor: OpenCage

Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API
Geomob

About Andrew

  • LinkedIn
  • Array Labs

Shownotes

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

  • My 20min video explaining radar satellite images
  • Find USGS 1m LiDAR data across the US
  • Y Combinator
  • My episode with Ashlee Vance
  • My episode with Brian McClendon
  • Albedo
  • Book & Podcast recommendation
    • Spin Selling by Neil Rackham (Affiliate Link)
    • Acquired

Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro

(01:08) - Sponsor: OpenCage

(02:34) - "Being a Recovering Engineer"

(03:15) - Mapping the world in 3D

(09:59) - "Near Real Time"

(15:46) - Applications will only use what's available, by definition

(18:15) - Why use radar for 3D images?

(22:23) - The coolest Space Shuttle mission, period

(27:19) - Tradeoff between resolution & coverage

(36:26) - Building cheap radar satellites

(39:46) - Array Labs's image resolution

(45:10) - A GPU Analogy

(50:34) - A story of image processing & computers

(56:07) - Array Labs today

(57:57) - Let's talk $$$

(01:06:38) - Low barrier to entry: Comparing XRay & MRI

(01:12:09) - Why stop at 10 satellites?

(01:15:50) - Focus

(01:19:53) - Max & Andrew's 1st chat during covid

(01:23:22) - Subscription model for satellite images?

(01:32:50) - Convincing the rest of the world your idea is worth something

(01:43:58) - Engineer to Founder

(01:47:30) - Book & Podcast recommendation

(01:51:06) - Array Labs's next 4 years?

(01:53:45) - Support the podcast on Patreon

  • Support the podcast on Patreon
  • My video on an introduction to satellite images
  • Website
  • My Twitter
  • Podcast Twitter
  • Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
  • Edited by Peter Xiong
  • Find more of his work

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