San Jose-based Hera Systems is revealing its plans to launch the first of the company's satellites that will capture high-resolution Earth images and video in near-real time. Hera Systems has secured its initial round of investment funding and is set to begin initial launches in October 2016.

It will be the only company to collect fresh, intelligent, one-meter and higher resolution imagery and video of any location on the globe, and make these products, along with analytics and derived information, easily accessible on-demand via mobile applications. Hera Systems sets itself apart from other providers by offering the combination of all of these features and capabilities in one affordable package.

"What we've learned from talking with customers and watching this industry closely for the past 16 years is that people don't want to go to multiple providers for their imagery and analytics needs," said Bobby Machinski, CEO of Hera Systems.

"Today's customers want and expect a variety of features and intelligent analytics capabilities from a single source - and they expect a very high value for every dollar spent."

Hera Systems recently completed its Series A round of investment funding, with Firsthand Technology Value Fund (Nasdaq: SVVC) as the lead investor. The funding has allowed Hera Systems to complete the development of a mockup satellite that demonstrates its technology, purchase components for the construction of the initial satellites, and make commitments to launch opportunities.

Hera Systems successfully completed the preliminary design review for the spacecraft - a key engineering and business milestone - late last month.

The company's initial constellation will comprise nine satellites. Featuring "sun-synchronous" and "inclined orbit" capabilities, these satellites will enable coverage of the entire globe and at varying times during the day. As market demand grows, Hera Systems will expand its constellation to include 48 satellites in order to provide near-hourly updates.

Over the past year, Machinski and his team have focused their energy and resources on developing Hera Systems' spacecraft design and capabilities, including communications systems and protocols, and the basic architecture for secure data-cloud and supporting web services.

"In the coming weeks, we will announce additional plans for satellites beyond our one-meter system, as well as major partnering arrangements we're securing with customers," said Machinski. "Right now, we're focused on securing additional funding to get us through the next milestones that get us closer to launch." As Hera Systems prepares for its next round of investments, it is already accepting convertible funding notes.

A group of industry veterans founded Hera Systems in 2013. Machinski serves as CEO alongside Dave Squires, vice president of space systems; and Satish Chetty, vice president of software engineering. Joe Thurgood is vice president of corporate development and marketing. Each brings to the company an average of 20 years of experience in related technology and engineering fields. Complete biographical information is available on the Hera Systems website.

Hera Systems' staff currently includes nearly 30 team members with deep expertise and over 200 years of combined experience in aerospace and related technology industries. Machinski expects to double his team's size within the next 12 months.

Hera Systems will primarily serve commercial and government organizations that need to monitor the Earth's constantly changing features and make smart decisions on a daily basis - for applications ranging from agricultural crop monitoring and infrastructure monitoring, to national security needs assessments.