Operates one of the largest Earth-observation satellite constellations, imaging the entire landmass daily for data and analytics.
Planet Labs PBC, operating as Planet, is a publicly traded American Earth-observation company headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in Berlin and Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 by a group of former NASA scientists, the company designs, builds and operates one of the largest constellations of imaging satellites ever deployed, with the mission of imaging the entire Earth every day to make change visible, accessible and actionable. Planet launched its first satellite in 2013 and has since deployed more than 460 satellites, operating roughly 200 spacecraft in orbit across its constellations. Its Dove (PlanetScope) satellites provide daily, medium-resolution monitoring of the planet's landmass, while its SkySat fleet delivers high-resolution, taskable imagery; the company also operates higher-resolution Pelican and hyperspectral Tanager satellites in its next-generation roadmap.
Together these systems capture tens of terabytes of imagery each day. Planet vertically integrates spacecraft manufacturing, mission operations, an automated ground-station network and a cloud-based data platform that delivers imagery, analytic feeds and software tools through APIs. The company serves more than 700 customers spanning agriculture, forestry, mapping, civil government, defense and intelligence, education, finance and insurance, using frequent revisit imagery for change detection, crop monitoring, disaster response and security applications. By autonomously operating a large fleet of small satellites and processing their data at scale, Planet provides a persistent, machine-readable record of how the planet is changing over time.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
Constellation of small satellites imaging Earth's entire landmass at daily revisit.
High-resolution taskable imaging satellites for on-demand sub-meter Earth observation.
Contact Planet Labs
WEBSITE
https://www.planet.com/HEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
2010
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Public
Funding Total
-
Certifications & Memberships
UCL and HKUST researchers, plus robotics CEOs, challenged embodied AI hype at WAIC 2026, citing generalization limits and no third-party evaluation standard.
ByThomas Siew Aug 03, 2026Your weekly robotics briefing: AGIBOT unveils four new robots at WAIC 2026, the NDAA bars Chinese humanoids from the U.S. military, SoftBank eyes Gravis Robotics for its Roze vehicle, and Anduril reveals its Thunder autonomous attack tiltrotor at Farnborough.
ByRobotToday Reporter Jul 25, 2026Planet Labs, a California-based Earth observation company, has successfully implemented AI image processing aboard its Pelican-4 multispectral satellite, marking a significant advancement in satellite technology. The satellite captured an image of an airport in Alice Springs, Australia, where an AI model autonomously identified and highlighted over a dozen aircraft on the tarmac. This achievement comes after 18 months of development aimed at enabling real-time object classification from space, which could revolutionize the Earth observation industry by providing immediate insights to users. Currently, Planet Labs operates hundreds of Dove and SuperDove CubeSats, alongside its Pelican satellites, which offer high-resolution imaging capabilities. The Pelican-4, launched into orbit in 2025, utilizes onboard AI algorithms to analyze images rapidly, delivering results to users within minutes. This efficiency addresses previous delays in data processing that could hinder timely responses to critical situations, such as wildfires. Looking ahead, Planet Labs plans to enhance its satellite fleet with a new model called the Owl, equipped with advanced AI detection capabilities. This network of satellites aims to create a system that autonomously monitors the planet and flags potential issues in real-time. The company envisions a future where powerful AI models could provide instant textual updates on detected anomalies, further streamlining Earth monitoring efforts. The space-based AI detection service is expected to be available to customers within the next six to nine months, as Planet Labs continues to collaborate with Google on projects that could expand data-processing capabilities in orbit.
IEEESpectrumAI May 01, 2026 Earth-observation Ai Computer-vision SatellitesFrom Starcloud's $170M Series A to Google's Project Suncatcher and China's operational LEO constellations, AI space data centers are moving from concept to infrastructure. Here's what the robotics industry needs to know.
ByKelly Stone Apr 03, 2026Vision-based tactile sensing (VBT) is emerging as the critical missing piece for Tesla Optimus dexterous hands. This briefing covers the technology, six global milestones, a ten-company competitive landscape, and the Chinese startup ecosystem — including PaXini, Daimon Robotics, DouDong, WeiTi and QianJue.
ByThomas Siew Apr 02, 2026Amazon acquires Rivr (fmr. Swiss-Mile), an ETH Zurich spinout, to scale wheel-legged robots for doorstep delivery — marking a turning point for hybrid mobility robotics.
ByRobotToday Reporter Mar 20, 2026An evidence-based deep dive into the crop monitoring and aerial scouting segment of agricultural robotics. Covers the market opportunity (ex-China) across North America, EU, Japan, and Israel; key players including Taranis, BASF xarvio, and DJI; emerging technologies such as edge AI, hyperspectral imaging, and satellite–drone fusion; and the structural challenges limiting wider adoption — connectivity gaps, false positives, data fragmentation, and small-farm exclusion.
BySarah Bakery Mar 19, 2026China's HEIS 2026 framework — the world's first comprehensive national standard for humanoid robots and embodied AI — sets technical specs across six pillars covering AI models, components, safety, and ethics. Here's what every EU and North American robotics manufacturer, integrator, and policy maker needs to know, and why the international standards race is already underway.
ByKelly Stone Mar 10, 2026Why Tesla’s Optimus supply chain is consolidating in China’s Yangtze River Delta, where actuators, motors, and robotics suppliers enable humanoid scale.
ByThomas Siew Dec 03, 2025A look at the leading candidates — such as Apptronik, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics — poised to supply humanoid robots for Foxconn’s Texas AI server plant powered by NVIDIA.
ByThomas Siew Nov 08, 2025Camsense leads global 2D LiDAR shipments for cleaning and service robots yet battles low margins as it aims to advance into 3D LiDAR and spatial perception systems.
ByRobotToday Reporter Nov 07, 2025