Copyright scmp
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) start-up Stellerus Technology aims to be the world’s first provider of satellite-enabled three-dimensional wind data to help wind power, transport and insurance firms boost revenues, cut costs and manage risks, according to its founders. Stellerus, founded in 2023 by the university’s academics, would leverage China’s cost competitiveness in satellite manufacturing to make global 3D wind data collection economically viable, said Su Hui, the chairwoman and co-founder. 3D wind data – wind direction and speed and their changes with altitude – is crucial for improving weather forecasting, especially severe climate events. “After I came to Hong Kong, I realised the technology for implementing such a project in mainland China was quite developed and the cost would be much lower than overseas,” Su said. “In the US, such a satellite could cost US$100 million to build, compared with 20 million yuan [US$2.8 million] in China.” Su, a meteorology expert, joined the HKUST’s department of civil and environmental engineering in 2022 as chair professor. She was formerly a principal scientist and weather programme manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Nasa. By deploying hyperspectral sensors, a type of optical sensor, Stellerus could collect data and use artificial intelligence to analyse carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour in the atmosphere to calculate changes in wind direction and speed, she said. “Such detailed data is lacking for meteorological observation and analysis globally,” she said. “Various organisations, including Nasa, plan to embark on such a project, but none has been implemented so far due to the high cost of launching a satellite constellation.” Nasa was testing laser technology for developing space-based 3D wind measurements, according to its website. It was also collaborating with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop advanced remote weather sensing instruments that can be flown aboard satellites to collect highly precise data to improve weather forecasting globally. In August 2023, HKUST partnered with Chang Guang Satellite Technology – a Jilin government-backed firm and China’s first commercial remote sensing satellite company – to become Hong Kong’s first higher education institution to launch an Earth environmental satellite. Stellerus paid the university a licensing fee to obtain satellite data and algorithms, which was derived from 0.5-metre high-resolution digital images, the highest for civilian satellites. Stellerus, the winner of the HKUST-Sino Group entrepreneurship competition last month, had been designing new satellites for climate observation, said CEO David Liu. The Hong Kong Science and Technology Park-based company, which has raised “tens of millions” of dollars from investors since inception, aimed to launch a pair of satellites within the next 18 months, followed by another five, Liu added. These satellites would form a constellation, which should be sufficient for global coverage of wind data, Liu said, adding Stellerus aimed to supply the data to developers of applications for the aviation, shipping and insurance industries. “The applications include aircraft route optimisation for fuel saving and air turbulence avoidance, shipping route planning for fuel efficiency, as well as climate risk management and product pricing by property and casualty insurers,” he said. Stellerus was in advanced talks with wind-farm developers and state-owned power grid operators, which were interested in using its 3D wind data for a fee, Liu added. China has the world’s largest fleet of wind farms. The data would help wind farm operators enhance power sales and save tens of millions of yuan spent on building wind monitoring towers, said Jeffrey Xu Mingyuan, the chief technology officer at Stellerus. “Currently, it is very costly to obtain accurate wind data, especially for offshore operators,” he said. “We aim to tackle the technology bottleneck by providing more affordable and better quality data useful for siting wind farms, energy storage, trading and grid access planning.”
