Perth, Western Australia - LatConnect 60 (LC60), an Australian Earth observation and AI company, has announced a growth investment round to accelerate development of a proliferated Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) satellite constellation boasting the highest resolution globally. The announcement was made at the opening of Edith Cowan University's new Space Integration Facility, with Caitlin Collins, parliamentary secretary to the WA Minister for Defence Industries, and US and Japan Consul Generals Colleen Alstock and Atsushi Karimata looking on. Because nothing says 'sovereign capability' like a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The company, which has already received funding from the Australian Space Agency and the Western Australian Government, plans to move from its first two SWIRSAT missions to an 18-satellite constellation, then expand to a 100-satellite network by 2035. Investors under late-stage discussions to cornerstone the round by end of June include allied government investment funds and corporate venture capital firms. Apparently, investors are eager to get in on the ground floor of a satellite network that will make today's limited SWIR capability look like a pair of binoculars.
LC60's long-term objective is to achieve sub-1 metre resolution at scale, turning SWIR from a niche, under-supplied capability into a persistent, high-resolution Earth intelligence layer. CEO and Founder Venkat Pillay described the announcement as a decisive shift from satellite demonstration to constellation-scale execution. 'We are building the first Australian-led, AUKUS aligned SWIR intelligence layer at scale; the two satellites for launch in Q1 2027 are just the starting point,' he said, clearly warming up for a future where satellites outnumber people in Perth.
The constellation aligns with Australian and allied defence strategy, including AUKUS Pillar II's emphasis on advanced capabilities, maritime domain awareness, AI, and information sharing. Because nothing says 'trusted intelligence' like a coalition of English-speaking nations building secret space stuff. LC60's sovereignty strategy centres on Western Australia, with the new ECU Space Integration Facility providing a base for spacecraft integration, cleanroom operations, and workforce development. As Pillay put it: 'Sovereignty is not just about owning a satellite. It is about controlling the chain; tasking, downlink, processing, AI models, product generation and authorised dissemination.' So basically, they want to own the entire pipeline from space to insight, which is either visionary or a little control-freaky, depending on your perspective.
SWIR imagery reveals material, moisture, and surface-condition signatures invisible in standard imagery, making it useful for detecting crop stress, water stress, and yield risk in agriculture, strengthening carbon and methane monitoring for sustainability, and supporting maritime awareness and concealment detection for defence. LC60 already has civilian traction with platforms serving over 125,000 smallholder farmers across Southeast Asia, proving that even satellite companies can do good while doing well. The company's vertically integrated architecture combines SWIRSAT collection, sovereign ground and processing, EONET60 AI fusion, and domain platforms to reduce latency and turn multi-source data into decision-ready intelligence. 'LC60 is building the SWIR network the market needs, at the scale the mission demands,' Pillay concluded, presumably while pointing at a map of the Indian Ocean and looking very serious.