Planet Launches High-Resolution Pelican-2 Satellite & 36 SuperDoves

Pelican-2 Rendering

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL), a leading provider of daily Earth data and insights, announced that its high-resolution Pelican-2 satellite and 36 SuperDoves of Flock 4G were successfully launched to orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-12 Rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Planet team has successfully made contact with Pelican-2 and started its commissioning process.

Pelican-2 joins Pelican-1 (a smallsat platform tech demonstration launched last year) as part of Planet’s next-generation, high-resolution fleet, to support and expand its existing SkySat capabilities. Planet plans to launch additional Pelicans this year.

Pelican-2 is designed to provide up to 40 cm class resolution imagery across 6 multispectral bands optimized for cross-sensor analysis. Planet has collaborated with NVIDIA to equip Pelican-2 with the NVIDIA Jetson platform to power on-orbit computing—with the aim of vastly reducing the time between data capture and value for customers. Pelican-2 is designed to quickly convert precise spatial data into rapid insights by utilizing AI-powered solutions for use cases including object detection, vegetation and crop type classification, and disaster response.

The launch also included 36 SuperDoves (Flock 4G) to contribute to Planet’s flagship daily, global monitoring mission. PlanetScope data is used by hundreds of customers in defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial markets to take informed action and better contextualize events on the ground today.