Planet Labs

Planet Labs (USA, founded 2010) has deployed the world’s largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites, consisting mostly of its shoebox-sized Dove satellites. These satellites, numbering in the hundreds, image the entire Earth daily at around 3–5 meter resolution, enabling frequent monitoring of changes on the planet’s surface. Planet’s data is used for applications ranging from agriculture and forestry to intelligence and disaster response. The company, now publicly traded, has expanded its satellite offerings with higher-resolution SkySat satellites (acquired from Terra Bella) and next-generation Pelican satellites in development. Planet’s mission to image “the whole Earth every day” has fundamentally transformed the availability of geospatial data, proving the effectiveness of small, low-cost satellites deployed in large numbers.