Satellite data plays a crucial role in our daily lives, providing industries with continuous insights from orbit. Almost every sector now relies on this information, and its value is growing in today’s data-driven world.

In financial services, space data is becoming essential. This is especially true  for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, where accurate, verifiable performance metrics are critical for investors, customers, and regulators.

Scottish space technology companies are at the forefront of this shift, helping financial institutions manage risk, verify sustainability claims, and make smarter investment decisions. By offering unprecedented insights into assets and portfolios, satellite data is reshaping how financial risks are assessed – helping to improve decision-making, protect investments, and drive better returns.  

The power of space insights and intelligence

According to the UK Space Agency, space technologies support around £370 billion of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) annuallyopens in a new window – about 18% – underpinning a secure and innovative economy.

The introduction of space technologies to finance is transforming data analytics in the industry, significantly increasing its precision and reliability. Space-derived data has shifted from a niche tool to an essential resource, enabling financial institutions to make data-driven decisions with greater confidence – from pension funds assessing carbon-heavy investments, to insurers evaluating climate risks.

Scottish firms are leading this transformation by combining satellite data with advanced machine learning to tackle key challenges in financial decision-making.

For example, increasingly unpredictable climates and extreme weather events are making it more challenging to assess an investment's viability and long-term success. Earthbloxopens in a new window, a Scottish company specialising in satellite data analytics, uses satellite technology to supply global imagery data that gives insurance underwriters confidence. By reducing the analysis time from 80 days to 8 minutes, it can provide these teams with insights that are both timely and intuitive.

Earthblox and other Scottish companies such as Trade in Spaceopens in a new window and Space Intelligenceopens in a new window help financial institutions monitor environmental changes, verify ESG claims across vast geographical areas, and fast-track EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance. This enables these clients to reduce the likelihood of getting fines and penalties and helps maintains their access to the EU market.

Transforming risk assessment and ESG reporting

Satellite data has become an increasingly valuable tool for pension funds and other institutional investors seeking to enhance their ESG compliance and risk assessment capabilities. Spireopens in a new window, a leading Scottish space data company, uses satellite data to collect thousands of atmospheric readings a day, monitoring pressure, humidity and temperature continuously across the globe. Its data has supported large-scale carbon projects from Brazil to India.

When pension funds need to assess the environmental impact of their investments in industrial facilities, Scottish companies like D-CATopens in a new window and Ecometricaopens in a new window (part of EcoOnline) can provide detailed analyses using satellite imaging. Their technologies provide investors with incredibly reliable, high-quality environmental data that offers early warning of environmental non-compliance or operational issues that could affect investment value.

Securing financial data, from space to screen 

As financial institutions increasingly rely on satellite data, cybersecurity becomes even more important. According to Scottish cybersecurity specialist Lupovis, financial institutions are 400 times more likely to be hit by a cyber-attackopens in a new window than other organisations. Sophisticated space-based technologies and services can help protect against these challenges even as they enable finance's digital transformation. 

For example, Lupovis offers a 'deception' service for financial organisations, which automatically detects threats and deploys decoys within a client's infrastructure to divert potential attackers away from critical systems. The company has recently received a grant to develop tailored cybersecurity measures for space applications, expanding their data protection expertise to the satellite realm.

Meanwhile, Glasgow-based Craft Prospectopens in a new window is working with the European and UK Space Agencies to test and demonstrate new optical and quantum communication technologies, which are critical for financial transactions and ensure that sensitive financial data remains protected across the globe.

Weather risk and operational management

Weather patterns significantly impact financial markets, affecting everything from agricultural futures to insurance claims.

Weatherstreamopens in a new window, which has an office in Edinburgh, combines satellite weather data with AI modelling, machine learning, and physics models to allow organisations to stay ahead of the weather, anywhere on Earth. For example, sea surface temperature measurements taken from satellites can help predict weather phenomena that might impact agricultural yields or energy consumption patterns, enabling financial businesses to adopt proactive risk management strategies.

Glasgow company Eolasopens in a new window recently developed a custom mapping service based on its own and public datasets. This provides decision-makers in natural capital management with optimised business data and solutions that help them both identify opportunities and make a positive environmental impact.

The future of space-enabled finance

The Scottish space sector's expertise in converting complex satellite data into actionable and sustainable financial insights is world renowned. These technologies are already being used by forward-thinking financial institutions, with their rapid adoption driven by the increasing regulatory requirements for environmental monitoring and risk assessment.

Emerging technologies and future applications

Looking ahead, Scottish space companies are in the process of developing even more advanced capabilities.

Machine learning and AI systems are being trained on vast archives of satellite data to automatically identify financial risks or opportunities. The integration of mobile networks and satellite systems will be critical in bridging the digital divide and bringing services to new customers. Edge computing capabilities added to satellites will reduce the time needed for data analysis and financial transactions to be made, as well as allowing a faster response to emerging risks or opportunities.

These technologies and the increasingly pivotal role space is playing on Earth make industries more efficient, resilient, and responsive – and the financial sector is positioned to reap huge benefits.

Discover more about Scotland's space sector