Planet Labs
PLPlanet Labs PBC is a leading Earth observation company operating the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites ever deployed.
Quick Facts
About Planet Labs
Planet Labs PBC is a leading Earth observation company operating the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites ever deployed. Founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists, Planet provides geospatial data that enables governments, businesses, and NGOs to make more informed decisions about our changing planet. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company images the entire Earth land mass daily.
Planet trades on NYSE under PL following its 2021 SPAC merger. The company employs approximately 800 people and operates facilities in California, Colorado, and internationally. Under CEO Will Marshall (co-founder), Planet has grown from a three-person startup to a publicly traded company generating over $200 million in annual revenue.
History and Milestones
Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler, and Chris Boshuizen founded Planet Labs in 2010 while working at NASA Ames Research Center. The founders believed miniaturized satellites could democratize access to Earth observation data. The company pioneered the use of CubeSats for commercial Earth imaging.
Planet launched its first commercial satellites in 2013 and rapidly expanded its constellation. Through organic growth and acquisitions—including BlackBridge (RapidEye satellites), Terra Bella (Google's satellite imaging unit), and Boundless—Planet built comprehensive Earth observation capabilities.
By 2017, Planet achieved its goal of imaging the entire Earth every day. This "Planet Basemap" provides consistent, current imagery for change detection and monitoring applications across industries.
Products and Services
Planet operates three satellite constellations: Dove (over 200 CubeSats providing daily global coverage), SkySat (high-resolution tasking satellites), and Pelican (next-generation high-resolution satellites). Together, these constellations provide imagery from 3-meter daily to 50-centimeter tasking resolution.
Planet Archive offers access to historical imagery dating back over a decade, enabling change analysis over time. Planet Monitoring provides automated analytics and change detection for specific areas of interest.
The company serves customers across agriculture (crop monitoring), government (defense and intelligence), forestry (deforestation tracking), energy (infrastructure monitoring), and finance (economic activity analysis). Planet's APIs enable integration into customer workflows and applications.
Technology and Capabilities
Planet pioneered the use of CubeSats for commercial imaging, developing standardized small satellites that can be rapidly manufactured and frequently replaced. This approach enables continuous constellation refresh with improved technology while maintaining persistent coverage.
The company operates one of the world's largest collections of Earth observation data, processing petabytes of imagery daily. Planet's platform includes machine learning tools for automated analysis, change detection, and feature extraction.
Planet's data infrastructure delivers imagery and analytics through APIs, integrating with customer systems and third-party platforms. The company partners with cloud providers for global data distribution and processing capabilities.
Business and Financial Overview
Planet went public through a SPAC merger in December 2021, raising approximately $500 million. The company generates revenue from data subscriptions, with annual recurring revenue exceeding $200 million. Government and defense customers represent a significant portion of revenue.
Major contracts include the National Reconnaissance Office's commercial imagery agreements, defense and intelligence customer subscriptions, and commercial enterprise agreements. Planet also serves the European Space Agency and international government customers.
The company has invested heavily in next-generation satellite development and data platform capabilities. Path to profitability depends on growing subscription revenue while managing satellite constellation costs and technology investments.
Recent Developments
In 2024, Planet continued expanding its satellite constellation and customer base while advancing next-generation satellite development. The company launched additional Pelican high-resolution satellites, enhancing tasking capabilities.
Planet deepened government relationships, securing contract extensions and new customer wins. The company also expanded commercial applications and analytics capabilities, supporting customers across multiple industries.
Development continued on Pelican, Planet's next-generation satellite platform offering sub-meter resolution. The company also invested in data processing and analytics tools to extract more value from its imagery archive.
Market Position
Planet is the largest commercial operator of Earth observation satellites by number of spacecraft. The company competes with Maxar Technologies, BlackSky, and emerging satellite imaging companies for government and commercial customers.
Planet's competitive advantages include the world's only daily global imaging capability, extensive historical archive, and flexible resolution options from constellation to tasking. The company's CubeSat approach enables rapid technology refresh.
Strategic priorities include growing government and commercial revenue, expanding analytics capabilities, and deploying next-generation Pelican satellites. Planet aims to make global change visible, accessible, and actionable.
Will Marshall (CEO, Co-founder)
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Data Accuracy Notice: Information about Planet Labs is compiled from publicly available sources including company websites, press releases, regulatory filings, and industry reports. Data is reviewed periodically but may not reflect the most recent developments.