Episode 12 — Why Is It Still So Hard to Buy a Satellite Image? with Zdravko Dimitrov

Thousands of satellites orbit our planet every day, capturing extraordinary data about agriculture, infrastructure, climate, disasters, defence, and commercial activity. Yet for most businesses, buying a single satellite image remains shockingly difficult — buried under high minimum order sizes, fragmented suppliers, unclear pricing, and complex procurement processes.

In this episode of The Space Curious Podcast, host Arn Terry sits down with Zdravko Dimitrov, founder and CEO of Sfera Technologies, a Bulgaria-based space company on a mission to make commercial satellite imagery accessible to businesses of any size. Zdravko breaks down why the satellite data industry is still so hard to navigate, how his company is pioneering small area tasking to let customers buy exactly the pixels they need, and why the future of earth observation belongs to commercial innovation — not just government defence programmes.

From the difference between Google Earth and professional earth observation data, to how AI is transforming geospatial analysis at scale, to what it's really like building a space tech company from Eastern Europe — this conversation is packed with insights for founders, geospatial professionals, space enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the future of satellite technology.

What we discussed:

• Commercial satellite imagery — what it actually is, and why it's much more than just a photo
• Google Earth vs. professional EO data — the real difference
• Archive imagery vs. new tasking — what's cheaper and when to use each
• Minimum order sizes — why they're shutting small businesses out of the market
• Small area tasking — how Sfera Technologies lets customers task fresh satellite data for $100 instead of $3,000
• Industries and real-world value — who benefits most from satellite imagery, including finance
• AI and large language models — unlocking geospatial analysis for everyone
• Building from Bulgaria — without ESA membership, venture capital, or anchor customers
• Europe's space sector — the three pillars Europe needs to fix
• Myth busting — why satellites can't watch you in real time (yet)

About the guest:

Zdravko Dimitrov is the founder and CEO of Sfera Technologies, a Bulgaria-based space company making commercial satellite observation accessible to businesses of any size. A graduate of the Bulgarian Air Force Academy with a background in automation engineering, Zdravko previously worked on a university earth observation satellite mission before founding Sfera to solve the accessibility problem in commercial satellite data.

Guest: Zdravko Dimitrov — Founder & CEO, Sfera Technologies
Connect with Zdravko: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zdravko-dimitrov/
Sfera Technologies: https://sfera.earth/
Connect with Arn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnterry/
Join the Space Curious group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/18018020/
Host: Arn Terry — The Space Curious Podcast
Space and aerospace recruitment: https://danielernest.com/de-orbit