LocationsDeep Tech Series Vol. 10: Looking to the Skies for Land Development - Space Tech for Sustainable City Development
June 9, 2025
Cities are grounded in the here and now, but new opportunities for managing their growth and sustainability are increasingly emerging from space. Urbanization is accelerating—today, 58% of the world’s population resides in cities, a figure projected to reach 68% by 2050, with much of this growth concentrated in developing countries. This pace of urbanization brings both challenges and opportunities. While cities currently consume 75% of global energy and generate 70% of carbon emissions, more effective and well-planned urban design and growth can foster inclusive economic growth, drive innovation and improve quality of life. In this evolving landscape, emerging space-based technologies are demonstrating potential to enhance resilient, data-driven urban planning and infrastructure management.
Space Tech and Sustainable Cities
The intersection of space technology and sustainable urban development is a promising frontier for cities worldwide. Current applications—such as using satellite imagery to monitor green cover loss/growth, detect surface heat anomalies, assess infrastructure vulnerabilities, and map informal settlements to improve service provision—are already helping city planners monitor and manage the urban space, mitigate environmental risks, and guide infrastructure development. While the cost of space technologies has declined—with per-kilogram launch costs decreasing at an average annual rate of 5.5% between 2000 and 2020, and commercial satellites seeing an even steeper drop of 7.5%—these tools remain largely inaccessible for many cities, particularly in developing countries. If this downward trend continues, however, space-based technologies may soon become more accessible, unlocking new opportunities for data-driven planning and decision-making. Further, new business models driving shared utilization of commercial space-based technologies may make them more accessible.
Looking beyond current applications, the next generation of space innovations is beginning to open new frontiers for sustainable cities. Emerging innovations such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), AI-driven space-based analytics, in-orbit edge computing, and space-based solar power are expanding the possibilities for urban innovation and resilience.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
SAR is an active radar imaging technology mounted on satellites or aircraft that can operate day and night, in any weather, and even penetrate clouds, smoke, and vegetation. It enables the detection of surface deformation, ground movement, and infrastructure changes with millimetre-level precision. These capabilities make SAR especially valuable for urban flood mapping and disaster risk management—particularly in low- and middle-income countries vulnerable to natural hazards.
SAR has proven effective in a range of development scenarios. In the aftermath of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, or landslides, SAR can facilitate rapid damage assessment even when cloud cover or darkness limits optical imaging. Following the 2023 Türkiye-Syria earthquake, for example, SAR imagery from the Sentinel-1 satellite was used to map ground deformation and assess urban damage in cities like Gaziantep, enhancing disaster response efforts. In Jakarta, Indonesia, SAR has been used to monitor land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction and infrastructure stress, informing long-term urban planning, including the government’s strategy.
Edge-AI in Space
Edge-AI in space represents a new frontier in satellite technology, bringing advanced AI directly onboard spacecraft. Unlike traditional ground-based analysis, Edge-AI enables real-time data processing on satellites, significantly reducing latency and improving the speed of critical decision-making. The integration of AI enables satellites to autonomously detect anomalies, prioritise relevant data, and even adjust mission parameters dynamically. This integration of AI and orbital edge computing pushes the boundaries of what satellites can accomplish, overcoming bandwidth limitations and enhancing responsiveness—particularly crucial for urban monitoring, disaster management, and environmental assessments.
Emerging use cases demonstrate the potential of Edge-AI in addressing sustainable urban development challenges. For instance, India's first AI-driven space lab integrates advanced AI capabilities into satellite constellations to deliver ultra-high-resolution, real-time analytics for urban planners and policymakers managing rapidly evolving megacities. Similarly, the World Settlement Footprint dataset uses AI-powered satellite analysis to map urban expansion and settlement patterns. By combining multispectral and radar-based satellite imagery, it generates high-resolution grid layers that help track how cities evolve over time and how informal settlements expand into hazard-prone areas—critical for effective urban planning, public health, and environmental risk management.
Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP)
SBSP is a concept that involves collecting solar energy in space—where sunlight is constant and unobstructed—and transmitting it wirelessly to Earth. While critics highlight potential inefficiencies due to energy conversion losses, proponents argue that the consistent solar exposure in space and the ability to serve areas with limited ground-based solar infrastructure make SBSP a valuable complement to terrestrial renewable energy sources.
Several national space agencies are actively exploring SBSP technologies. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), for example, has been researching SBSP, focusing on converting solar energy into microwave or laser energy for transmission to Earth. They plan to demonstrate a miniature space-based solar power plant by 2025, which will wirelessly transmit energy from low Earth orbit to Earth. Concurrently, China’s China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) is advancing its SBSP program with plans to launch a low Earth orbit test satellite in 2028 to trial microwave power transmission. By 2030, they aim to deploy a 1-megawatt (MW) station in geostationary orbit, scaling up to a 10 MW system by 2035. While 10 MW may seem modest compared to a city’s total energy demand, it marks a milestone for SBSP. In South Africa, where an average urban household uses about 15 kWh per day, a 10 MW system generating 240,000 kWh daily could power roughly 16,000 homes.
Barriers to Adoption in Developing Countries
Although the cost of launching satellites and accessing certain types of space data has been decreasing from historically high levels, many space-based technologies remain financially and operationally out of reach for many developing countries. Declining costs represent a positive trend, but without targeted support and systemic changes, accessibility will remain uneven. Beyond cost, many city governments face constraints—such as limited digital infrastructure, skilled personnel, or institutional capacity. Data from platforms like Copernicus or NASA's Earthdata may be freely available, but accessing and processing large geospatial datasets often requires specialized software, high-bandwidth internet, and geospatial analysis capabilities—resources that remain limited in many municipal offices. In addition, commercial satellite imagery can remain expensive for routine use, particularly in secondary cities or peri-urban areas where urbanization is fast, yet resources are constrained.
Equally challenging are policy and coordination gaps. Few developing countries have formal strategies that link national space capabilities with urban policy agendas, and responsibilities for spatial data often fall across institutions with limited collaboration. This leads to underutilization of existing data and potentially poor alignment with local development priorities. Moreover, the lack of clear regulatory frameworks for data governance—covering issues like privacy, data sharing, and inter-agency protocols—discourages integration of space-derived insights into mainstream urban decision-making. Without targeted support to address these structural, capacity, and institutional constraints, the promise of space technology risks remaining out of reach for the very cities that could benefit most.
Creating the Conditions for Future Uptake
Realizing the potential of space-based technologies for sustainable urban development will depend on carefully strengthening access, building capacity, and developing the foundational systems needed to support future use. While many of these technologies remain on the frontier, early efforts to integrate satellite data into urban planning—such as for land-use regulation, disaster preparedness, or climate adaptation—offer useful insights into how such tools might contribute to more informed decision-making if key barriers are addressed over time.
Looking ahead, regional collaboration and shared infrastructure may offer new avenues for gradually expanding access. While still nascent, future approaches could include cross-country partnerships for satellite data processing, open-access analysis platforms, or pooled investments in geospatial tools—particularly for smaller or resource-constrained cities. For example, SERVIR—a joint initiative of NASA and USAID—partners with regional hubs in Latin America, East Africa, the Himalayas, and the Mekong region to deliver Earth observation services tailored to local development priorities. Similarly, the African Union’s Space Policy encourages regional cooperation on data sharing and capacity development—offering a potential model for broader collaboration in this space.
In the near term, rather than focusing on direct deployment of advanced technologies, national efforts could prioritise building readiness. This includes exploring how geospatial data can support urban development, while also investing in human capital, institutional capacity, and basic digital infrastructure. For instance, UNDP’s GIS-as-a-Service platform offers a centralized ecosystem of geospatial data and tools that may help connect existing knowledge with more accessible, decision-relevant analytics. Capacity-building initiatives—such as those led by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) through its Programme on Space Applications—have supported developing countries to engage with space technologies in a practical and exploratory manner. Finally, integrating space-based technologies with local datasets, IoT systems, and citizen-generated data will be essential to ground orbital insights in urban realities—ensuring that space tech not only observes cities from above but actively serves those on the ground.
This is the tenth blog of the Deep Tech Series. Click here for the full list of blogs.