TerraMetrics
TerraMetrics provides cloud-free global satellite imagery basemaps (TruEarth) and a patented 3D terrain rendering engine (nScape) to defense, aerospace, web mapping, broadcast, and entertainment customers worldwide, monetizing via one-time perpetual licenses sold direct.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersLittleton, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What TerraMetrics does
TerraMetrics, LLC is a privately held U.S. company founded in 1998 and headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, that builds global satellite imagery basemaps and 3D terrain rendering software for enterprise and government buyers. Its TruEarth product line provides cloud-free natural-color Earth imagery — most prominently the 15-meter global dataset comprising 23,135 seamless geo-referenced JPEG2000 tiles (4.6 TB uncompressed) derived from NASA Landsat 7 ETM+ source data with global locational accuracy under 50 meters RMSE. Its nScape product is a multi-threaded OpenGL ES 2.0 / OpenGL 3.3 rendering engine with a patented block-loading methodology that delivers high frame-rate 3D terrain with imagery texture on embedded and mobile platforms, including a certified ITAR-compliant variant for defense applications and support for stereoscopic 3D and head-mounted displays. The legacy TerraBlocks engine established the company's early reputation in aircraft primary flight display rendering and has since been superseded by nScape.
The company monetizes primarily through one-time perpetual licensing of TruEarth imagery (three tiers: OEM/Integrator at $6,960-$19,900, Company/Agency-wide at $4,160-$11,900, Multi-Workstation Site at $2,790-$7,990) and licensing of the nScape engine in object or source-code form. Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales via a website contact form, with off-the-shelf digital delivery and standard net-30 terms for qualified U.S. customers plus bank wire for international buyers. Customers span Google (Earth and Maps basemap since 2005), U.S. Department of Defense agencies, NASA, aerospace and defense prime contractors, broadcast news and weather outlets, feature film and television productions, web mapping platforms, and computer graphics animators. The company operates with 1-10 employees, has not raised external funding, and runs as an independent LLC.
TerraMetrics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- TerraMetrics
- Legal name
- TerraMetrics, LLC
- Website
- https://terrametrics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- TerraMetrics provides cloud-free global satellite imagery basemaps (TruEarth) and a patented 3D terrain rendering engine (nScape) to defense, aerospace, web mapping, broadcast, and entertainment customers worldwide, monetizing via one-time perpetual licenses sold direct.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
TerraMetrics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Satellite Imagery and 3D Terrain Visualization Software
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370)
- SIC
- Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM), Look Development, Shading & Lighting (Animation) (MPAHACAI)
Keywords
Where TerraMetrics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Littleton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
TerraMetrics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- TruEarth Imagery Licensing: One-time license fees for TruEarth 15-meter global satellite imagery. Three license tiers: OEM/Integrator (for embedded use and distribution), Company/Agency-wide (single company across multiple locations), and Multi-Workstation Site (single physical location). Imagery delivered off-the-shelf in compressed JPEG2000 or uncompressed GeoTIFF formats.
- nScape 3D Terrain Engine Licensing: Licensing of nScape 3D terrain rendering engine for integration into customer applications. Available in object and source code forms. ITAR-compliant version available. Supports Linux Mobile/Desktop and Windows OS environments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | OEM/Integrator License - embedded use and distribution |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Company/Agency-wide License - single company across multiple locations |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Multi-Workstation Site License - single physical location |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
TerraMetrics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
TerraMetrics sells globally licensed satellite imagery products and 3D terrain-rendering software to enterprise and government customers. Its flagship offering, the TruEarth 15-meter global natural-color satellite imagery dataset, is delivered as 23,135 JPEG2000 tiles covering the entire Earth (excluding Antarctica). Its nScape engine is a multi-threaded, shader-based OpenGL ES 2.0 / OpenGL 3.3 rendering library licensed for integration into mobile, desktop, and mission-critical embedded applications such as synthetic vision flight displays and simulation.
Product overview
TerraMetrics provides cost-effective satellite imagery, 3D terrain datasets, and 3D terrain-rendering software tools to the computer visualization, simulation, mapping, and animation markets. The product portfolio centers on two complementary offerings: TruEarth 15-meter imagery serves as the foundational global satellite basemap providing natural-color Earth imagery used across web mapping, simulation, and GIS applications; and nScape 3D Terrain Engine provides the rendering technology for real-time terrain visualization in mobile and mission-critical embedded applications. These products work together to deliver complete Earth visualization solutions from satellite imagery capture through real-time 3D rendering.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- TruEarth™: Global 15-meter natural-color satellite imagery product providing complete, cloud-free global coverage. Used as basemap imagery for Google Earth and Google Maps.
- nScape™
- TerraBlocks™
- TruViewer
Products and services
- TruEarth 15-meter Imagery Global natural-color satellite imagery basemap providing complete, cloud-free coverage of Earth (excluding Antarctica) at 15-meters-per-pixel resolution. Delivered as a 4.6 TB dataset comprising 23,135 seamless 1° x 1° JPEG2000 or uncompressed GeoTIFF tiles in WGS84 projection, with <50 meter RMSE locational accuracy. Licensed to web mapping, simulation, GIS, synthetic vision, broadcast, and visual effects customers under OEM/Integrator, Company/Agency-wide, and Multi-Workstation Site license tiers.
- nScape 3D Terrain Engine
Quantifiable outcome
- 15-meter resolution provides detail visible from approximately 26 km altitude
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use TerraMetrics
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
TerraMetrics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
TerraMetrics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights4 records
TerraMetrics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Planet Labs: Planet operates the largest commercial satellite constellation providing daily global imagery and derived analytical products. Its coverage and revisit rate position it as a broad incumbent alternative to TruEarth's mid-resolution basemap and a competitor for the same mapping/SIM customers.
- Esri (ArcGIS): Esri's ArcGIS platform is the dominant GIS software suite with basemap, imagery, and 3D scene capabilities serving enterprise and government mapping customers. It overlaps with TerraMetrics' basemap and GIS-segment customers as a broader incumbent geospatial platform.
- Mapbox: Mapbox provides a developer-focused mapping platform with custom basemaps, 3D terrain tiles, and APIs used by web and mobile applications, including some web-mapping customers historically served by TruEarth. It represents a broad incumbent alternative for OEMs building consumer mapping products.
- Maxar Technologies: Maxar is a leading high-resolution commercial satellite imagery and 3D geo-data provider (including Vricon). It serves the same defense, mapping, and simulation customers as TerraMetrics but at much higher resolution and scale, representing a broader incumbent in satellite imagery.
- NV5 Geospatial (formerly Harris Geospatial): NV5 Geospatial delivers geospatial software (ENVI, SOCET GXP) and imagery analytics for defense and intelligence customers. Its photogrammetry and imagery workflows overlap with TerraMetrics' mission-critical mapping and defense segment.
Emerging players
- Blackshark.ai: Blackshark.ai produces a high-fidelity 3D Earth digital twin and rendering platform for simulation, defense, and metaverse customers. Its AI-derived 3D Earth competes with TerraMetrics' global 15-meter basemap and nScape engine, especially where customers need streaming/cloud delivery rather than on-device rendering.
- SimActive (Correlator3D): SimActive's Correlator3D photogrammetry software produces 3D terrain models and orthomosaics from satellite and aerial imagery. It competes on the imagery/3D terrain production side of TerraMetrics' pipeline, primarily serving mapping and engineering customers.
Direct peers
- Vricon (Maxar): Vricon produces high-resolution 3D geodata products from satellite imagery for defense, intelligence, and simulation markets. Its 3D Earth datasets and rendering focus compete directly with TruEarth imagery and nScape-derived 3D terrain visualization for the same simulation and SVS use cases.
- Skyline Software Systems (Trimble): Skyline builds 3D terrain visualization and simulation software (Skyline Globe/PhotoMesh) for defense, intelligence, and broadcast markets. Its embedded/simulation focus, photogrammetric 3D meshes, and defense customer base overlap directly with TerraMetrics' nScape engine and aerospace & defense segment.
- Cesium (Bentley iTwin): Cesium provides a streaming 3D geospatial platform and terrain engine used for simulation, defense, and digital-twin applications, directly overlapping TerraMetrics' nScape in 3D terrain rendering and WGS84 global visualization. Cesium ion's tile-based delivery competes head-on with TruEarth's tile-based basemap model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
TerraMetrics social profiles
Digital presenceTerraMetrics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
TerraMetrics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
TerraMetrics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
TerraMetrics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about TerraMetrics
What does TerraMetrics do?
TerraMetrics sells globally licensed satellite imagery products and 3D terrain-rendering software to enterprise and government customers. Its flagship offering, the TruEarth 15-meter global natural-color satellite imagery dataset, is delivered as 23,135 JPEG2000 tiles covering the entire Earth (excluding Antarctica). Its nScape engine is a multi-threaded, shader-based OpenGL ES 2.0 / OpenGL 3.3 rendering library licensed for integration into mobile, desktop, and mission-critical embedded applications such as synthetic vision flight displays and simulation.
Is TerraMetrics a public or private company?
TerraMetrics is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was TerraMetrics founded?
TerraMetrics was founded in 1998. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is TerraMetrics based?
TerraMetrics is headquartered in Littleton, United States, in the North America region.
How does TerraMetrics make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. TruEarth Imagery Licensing is the primary driver. The others are nScape 3D Terrain Engine Licensing.
Who are TerraMetrics's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Planet Labs, Esri (ArcGIS), Mapbox, Maxar Technologies and NV5 Geospatial (formerly Harris Geospatial). Emerging players are Blackshark.ai and SimActive (Correlator3D). Direct peers are Vricon (Maxar), Skyline Software Systems (Trimble) and Cesium (Bentley iTwin).
Does TerraMetrics have an API?
No public API is recorded for TerraMetrics.
What industry is TerraMetrics in?
TerraMetrics's product category is Satellite Imagery and 3D Terrain Visualization Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAB, Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs), with a secondary code of BPAMANAM, Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms. Its NAICS code is 541370 and its SIC code is 3812.