NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program has released two reports on data from the Umbra X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation, and the results are… well, let's just say Umbra shouldn't quit its day job yet.

The first report, a Principal Investigator Evaluation Summary, found that Umbra's data is generally useful for Earth science research, with strengths including very high spatial resolution, taskable access with quick turnaround, imaging flexibility, and an Open Data Program. However, the PI teams noted some weaknesses: geolocation errors (both large and small), limited software compatibility, metadata issues, and missing technical documentation. In other words, the pictures are great, but don't trust them to tell you where they were taken.

The second report, a Quality Assessment Report, dug into the radiometric and geometric quality of the data. NASA subject matter experts found that spatial resolution met Umbra's specs, but geolocation accuracy did not universally align with the company's claims. The overall positioning performance, they concluded, "did not meet the expected accuracy." As for radiometric performance, the data "underperform[ed] relative to that of well-calibrated reference SAR systems." So, not great, Bob.

The CSDA program, established to evaluate commercial data for NASA science, acknowledges that commercial constellations could be a cost-effective way to augment Earth observations. But if Umbra wants to join that club, it might want to invest in a better GPS and a calibration manual.