#44: Mapping Forests in 3D: KappaZeta’s Bold Satellite Mission (feat. Martin Jüssi, Space Mission Manager)

NewSpaceVision

Technology

4.0 • 4 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Most satellites see the Earth in two dimensions. But what if we could measure not just the surface, but the height and volume of what covers it - forests, crops, even infrastructure? That’s the mission of KappaZeta, an Estonian startup building a 3D Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation that could transform how we monitor our planet.

In this episode, we sit down with Martin Jüssi, Space Mission Manager at KappaZeta, who takes us on a journey from tinkering with map editors in video games to leading a groundbreaking space mission. We unpack how KappaZeta is turning Europe’s Sentinel-1 satellites into a new kind of forest-monitoring powerhouse, why 3D data is the missing piece for carbon markets, and how Estonia built one of the most dynamic space ecosystems in Europe.

We also dive into:

🌲 How 3D SAR can track forest biomass, carbon stock, and timber resources
🛰️ Why KappaZeta’s “passive satellites” are a cost-effective way to enhance Sentinel-1
⚡ The dual-use potential: from forestry and agriculture to defense and disaster response
🇪🇪 How Estonia went from Skype to space startups - and what’s next

Transcript

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0:00.0	Because in my opinion, a mission always need to, like a space mission always needs to have a purpose.
0:06.2	100%.
0:06.9	We can't launch a satellite just because, for the sake of launching a satellite.
0:10.4	Many people do, though.
0:15.5	All right, a lift-off. The clock is started.
0:20.4	Speed.
0:20.7	We change the corner of the world. Let me. All right, yeah, lift-off. The clock is turned. Three. Steve. One.
0:22.4	We chose to go to the world.
0:24.8	Lift-off.
0:25.7	We have a lift-off.
0:28.0	Hello and welcome to the NewsSpace Vision podcast sponsored by Lifeio, where we discuss
0:32.4	news space technology, finance, and innovation with executives, founders, and more exciting
0:37.2	people from the startup and
0:38.7	new space ecosystem. I'm Daniel Seidel. And I'm Sam Shavara and together we are the founders of
0:43.4	the Earth Observation Company, Live Here and New Space Vision. Today's guest is Martin Uzi,
0:47.7	space mission manager from the satellite analytics company Capaceta. Welcome to the show, Martin.
0:53.3	Hello, thank you. So before we dive deeper into the company and what Capaceta. Welcome to the show, Martin. Hello, thank you.
0:54.7	So before we dive deeper into the company and what Capacita is doing, we wanted to first
0:59.3	get to know you a little bit better.
1:01.2	So let's go back to the beginning.
1:02.9	Before you decided to study geography and GIS and space-related things, where you
1:08.6	space inclined at all, was there any special moment where you decided, hey, I want to go in that direction?
	...

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