Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment firm majority-owned by the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is a key principal investor in Satellogic, a satellite imagery company that is under contract with a Chinese state-tied data company while it seeks to expand its U.S. defense and intelligence work.
Since 2019, Satellogic has held an Earth observation contract with the Chinese data science company known as ABDAS, a deal that runs until at least 2033. ABDAS, known in China as Zhong Ke Guang Qi Space Information Technology Co., was established in 2015 with the support of the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences. Satellogic’s contract for ABDAS, whose work includes “government supervision,” is focused on imaging in China’s Henan Province. Satellogic has also collaborated on technology with state-owned Chinese firms and received major investment from Chinese company Tencent.
Satellogic says its company's mission is to map every square meter of the Earth’s surface on a daily basis, providing its customers in government, defense, and industry with “near real-time” analysis of everything from agricultural fields to water resources to military ship locations. The company says its sensors can generate multispectral imagery data down to a resolution of 50 centimeters, and can detect material composition at a 25-meter level of detail through hyperspectral imagery, among other services.
Satellogic simultaneously has a years-long partnership with SpaceX as its “preferred rideshare launch provider” for its satellites. Owned by Lutnick’s ally Elon Musk, SpaceX is positioned to receive billions of dollars in new government contracts under the Trump administration—while it has faced scrutiny in recent years, including from Republican lawmakers, for its potential undisclosed Chinese investors.
Cantor Fitzgerald has been a business partner for Satellogic since 2021, with Lutnick given a board seat and promoting the company to investors. Lutnick was Cantor Fitzgerald’s chairman and CEO for more than three decades. Upon his nomination as Commerce secretary, he resigned his seat on Satellogic’s board; in May, Cantor Fitzgerald said he had divested his stakes in the Wall Street firm to his sons and an investor group.
Lutnick now leads an agency that has oversight of a critical remote sensing license for Satellogic—and is playing a lead role in the Trump administration’s whirlwind tariff policies on China.
