Forecasting the Economy From Space
Jake Schneider joined The Blunt Dollar to discuss how Atlas is using satellite imagery, AI, and macroeconomic modeling to forecast the economy in real time.
What if investors could understand the economy as it unfolds, rather than months after the fact?
That was the central question Atlas Analytics, Founder & CEO, Jake Schneider explored on The Blunt Dollar, where he joined Ignacio Ramirez to discuss how satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and macroeconomic modeling are changing the way economic activity can be measured.
For decades, markets have relied on official economic data that is delayed, revised, and often backward-looking. GDP is one of the most important measures of economic performance in the world, but by the time official releases arrive, investors, policymakers, and business leaders are often reacting to conditions that have already changed.
As Jake put it:
“GDP and other key economic indicators come out with a lag. Satellites continue overhead in real time.”
Atlas Analytics algorithms were built around a different idea: the physical economy leaves visible traces in real-time.
Construction sites expand. Ports fill and empty. Land use changes. Containers move through supply chains. Factories, infrastructure, farmland, and transportation networks all generate observable signals that can be measured from above. At Atlas, those signals are transformed into real-time economic intelligence.
“We ingest satellite imagery from outer space and turn raw images of Earth into usable data for forecasting the economy in real time.”
The company’s core algorithm, ROY, short for Remote Orbital Yield, focuses on broad economic activity, including construction, land use, vegetation, and other physical signals tied to core GDP. By comparing decades of historical satellite imagery with official GDP data, Atlas has built models designed to identify changes in economic momentum as they happen.
One of the clearest examples came in Q2 2025. At the time, consensus expectations suggested the U.S. economy was slowing. Atlas saw something different. The company forecasted 4.3% GDP growth, well above consensus estimates near 2%. Months later, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised GDP to 3.8%, much closer to Atlas’ original forecast.
“The consensus was 2%. We predicted 4.3%, and the final answer was 3.8% three months later.”
That time advantage matters. In markets, being directionally right is valuable. Being directionally right months early can be transformative.
The conversation also highlighted JACK, Atlas’ trade intelligence platform and second major algorithm. JACK, short for Joint Algorithm for Containerized Knowledge, uses satellite imagery over major U.S. ports to monitor container activity and estimate trade flows in near real time. By tracking TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, JACK is designed to improve visibility into imports, exports, and net exports before official data is available.
A Global Forecast
Jake highlighted Atlas’ work with the International Monetary Fund and Johns Hopkins University to explore how satellite-based economic measurement can be applied beyond the United States, particularly in regions where official data can be delayed, incomplete, or released with long lags. In parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, economic data can arrive up to a year late. Real-time measurement tools could help investors, policymakers, and institutions better understand economic conditions and allocate capital more effectively.
The conversation was also candid about what Atlas has learned. Jake discussed a recent quarter where Atlas’ headline GDP forecast diverged from the official release, particularly because of net exports. Rather than avoid the miss, Atlas has used it to sharpen its methodology and accelerate development of JACK.
“We are transparent about our wins and our losses — and that’s how you know you can trust us.”
That transparency is central to how Atlas thinks about trust.
The broader vision is simple but ambitious: move macroeconomic analysis from delayed reporting to real-time measurement. By observing the physical economy directly, Atlas is building tools that help investors and institutions see economic turning points sooner, understand regional and global activity more clearly, and make decisions with a faster, more grounded view of the world.
The economy moves in real time, economic intelligence can too with Atlas Analytics.