Use case: construction and real estate
Monitoring construction progress
Satellite imagery can track construction progress, especially on large sites, works spread over many sites and remote locations. Comparing successive images shows indicators such as cranes being set up or removed, construction materials, trucks and new buildings. Owners and lenders receive regular information without being on site, and inspections can be planned where they are needed.
- Reference
- UC-15
- Technologies
- Challenge
- Asset and infrastructure monitoring
- Updated
- Published by
- LETO SPACE
01When you need it
Who needs it
Construction companies see the progress of their own work. Infrastructure owners and financing institutions usually cannot be present on site during the whole construction phase, yet they need regular and reliable information about progress to make sound decisions Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu).
Satellite progress monitoring is most relevant to large construction sites such as gigafactories and airports, to works spread over many sites with many actors, such as new metro lines and stations, and to construction in remote locations Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu).
02Technology
How it works
The method is change detection. Successive satellite images of the same site are compared, and the differences are read as indicators of progress: cranes set up or removed, construction materials and waste on site, trucks, and new buildings Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). EUSPA describes this as monitoring, in near real time, of the progress anywhere on the site Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu).
Artificial intelligence helps automate this work. Change detection based on pattern recognition and object characterisation is key to infrastructure management, and machine learning helps process the growing volume of satellite data Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). How AI turns images into information is the topic of our use case on analysing satellite imagery with AI.
Two related techniques complement progress monitoring. Radar interferometry can monitor ground deformation in the vicinity of a construction site Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu); see monitoring ground motion with InSAR. On site, GNSS feeds building information models with high-accuracy positions of the construction assets Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu).
03Data
Which data and satellites
| Data | What it shows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Very high resolution optical images | Objects on site: cranes, materials, trucks, new buildings | Commercial missions |
| High resolution optical images | Larger changes across the site | Copernicus Sentinel-2, 10 m, revisit five days |
| Radar images | Acquisitions through clouds and at night | Copernicus Sentinel-1 and commercial radar missions |
Very high resolution and frequently updated images are what makes satellite progress monitoring possible, and EUSPA counts both optical and radar images among them Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). Sentinel-2 images have a resolution of 10 m and a revisit time of five days Source: European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-2 (mission page)accessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens esa.int).
04Deliverables
What you get
- a time series of images for each site, so that progress can be followed from one acquisition to the next
- progress indicators per site, such as the presence of cranes or new building outlines Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu)
- for works spread over many sites, the same indicators for every site in one view
- better planned site inspections: the information helps optimise inspections, reduce their cost and improve worker safety Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu)
05Limits
Limits
Limit 01
Only what is visible from above
A satellite sees the site from above. Work inside buildings, the quality of the work and its acceptance remain tasks for people on site.
Limit 02
Clouds hide optical images
Optical satellites cannot see through clouds; radar satellites such as Sentinel-1 can Source: European Space Agency (ESA), 3 November 2025European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-1 mission… did you know?3 November 2025Open source (opens esa.int). A service that relies on optical images alone may miss a planned reporting date.
Limit 03
Free images show only larger changes
Indicators such as cranes, materials and trucks rely on very high resolution images Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). A service built only on free 10 m Sentinel-2 images Source: European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-2 (mission page)accessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens esa.int) shows larger changes across the site, not single objects.
06Next steps
How we help
Progress monitoring is useful when it feeds a decision, for example a payment milestone, a lender's report or a programme review. In a strategy engagement we check whether satellite data answer your question better than the reports you already receive. We then write the requirements: indicators, image resolution, reporting interval and delivery format.
More on requirements and procurement
The marketplace on Spacegraph, our discovery platform, has a use-case category for site and construction monitoring.
07Use cases
Related use cases
- Monitoring ground motion with InSARHow radar satellites measure millimetre movement of the ground.
- Machine guidance and surveying with GNSSSatellite positioning for construction machines and surveying.
- Construction and real estateAll use cases for construction, infrastructure and real estate.
Frequently asked questions
Q1Which image resolution do we need?
It depends on the indicator. Copernicus Sentinel-2 images are free Source: European Commission, DG Defence Industry and Space (EU Space portal), accessed 7 October 2026European Commission, DG Defence Industry and Space (EU Space portal)Copernicusaccessed 7 October 2026Open source (opens eu-space.europa.eu) and have a resolution of 10 m Source: European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-2 (mission page)accessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens esa.int), which shows larger changes across a site rather than single objects. Indicators such as cranes, materials and trucks are tracked with very high resolution images, which are what makes satellite progress monitoring possible Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 20242024Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). The requirements should name the smallest object you need to see.
Q2How often can we get an image of our site?
Sentinel-2 has a revisit time of five days Source: European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-2 (mission page)accessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens esa.int); for very high resolution images, the frequency depends on the mission you buy from. Optical images need a clear sky, while radar images, for example from Sentinel-1, are also available through clouds and at night Source: European Space Agency (ESA), 3 November 2025European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-1 mission… did you know?3 November 2025Open source (opens esa.int). Set the reporting interval by the decision the information supports, for example a monthly payment milestone.
Q3How do we start a pilot?
Choose one project with several sites or one large site, and define the indicators that matter for your decision, such as the start of earthworks or the completion of a building shell. Then compare what the images show with your site reports. Our consulting overview shows the path from the problem to operation.
Sources (6)
- EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 1 (opens euspa.europa.eu)
- EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 2024 (opens euspa.europa.eu)
- Sentinel-2 (mission page) (opens esa.int)
- Sentinel-1 mission… did you know? (opens esa.int)
- Copernicus (opens eu-space.europa.eu)
- Copernicus Sentinel-2 Level-2A scenes of tile 33TWN, 4 August 2017, 30 June 2019, 14 June 2021 and 1 September 2025 (opens earth-search.aws.element84.com)
Contact
Following several construction projects at once? Let us work out what satellite data can show, and how often.
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