Space to Soil

Diffraqtion proposes a SmallSat mission concept that delivers real-time deforestation detection through a novel onboard processing architecture. Rather than capturing raw imagery for ground-based analysis, the mission employs a quantum camera that performs 1-meter GRD canopy classification directly at the sensor level. An onboard computer performs lightweight change detection against a stored baseline, triggering sub-kilobyte alert packets only when canopy loss is detected. This architecture reduces downlink volume from GBs of images to KBs in change alerts and compresses time-to-alert from days to minutes. These high-resolution deforestation alerts integrate into monitoring platforms like Global Forest Watch to enable authorities and stakeholders to respond in near real-time. The result is a low-cost intelligent satellite that moves Earth observation from passive data collection to active environmental protection, delivering at the speed of relevance to the agencies and organizations working to preserve the world's forests.