SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 2026, 10:02 PDT
Planet Labs PBC said it sent three of its high-resolution Pelican satellites into orbit on a SpaceX rideshare mission early Sunday. Among them: the first satellite connected to its satellite-services deal with the Swedish Armed Forces. The company said it’s already established first contact and begun commissioning, the pre-service checkout phase.
The launch pushes Planet’s Sweden contract from the negotiation table to actual orbit, a little more than four months after the announcement. Back in January, the company described the agreement as a low-nine-figure, multi-year deal that hands Sweden satellite ownership and opens up Planet’s high-resolution data and intelligence services. It’s the third satellite-services contract Planet has landed within a year.
Planet’s ambitions have stretched past just selling images from its own satellites, as it targets government and commercial clients with custom satellite services. Will Marshall, CEO, told Reuters last year that global political shifts were pushing countries to demand greater command over satellite data—a shift now reflected in Europe’s rising defense budgets and new NATO-backed space initiatives.
Back in January, Marshall put the Sweden agreement bluntly: “Europe needs its own eyes.” Now comes the real test. With Sunday’s launch, it’s all about showing that the just-deployed Pelican can actually get through commissioning, handle assignments without hiccups, and deliver image data that military buyers can use.
SpaceX’s CAS500-2 mission lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12 a.m. PDT, carrying the spacecraft among its 45 payloads. According to Spaceflight Now, SpaceX confirmed all payloads deployed successfully. The South Korean CAS500-2 satellite, the mission’s primary payload, separated from the rocket roughly an hour into flight.
Pelican, Planet’s latest high-res imaging line, targets users looking to direct satellites at precise spots. According to Planet’s own documentation, Pelican delivers imagery sampled at 50 centimeters per pixel—so detail down to about half a meter on the ground. Features include quick tasking, fast turnaround on delivery, and multispectral imaging that picks up multiple bands of light, not just standard color.
Planet’s latest trio of Pelicans come equipped with Nvidia Jetson chips, enabling on-orbit edge computing—so images and data get processed right up in space, not just beamed back down for analysis. Back in April, the company reported Pelican-4 tapped its onboard AI to pinpoint airplanes in imagery taken over Alice Springs, Australia. Kiruthika Devaraj, who heads avionics and spacecraft tech as vice president, put it simply: the point is to shrink the lag between “seeing” changes and actually “acting” on them. Business Wire
The rideshare underscored just how packed the field’s become. According to Space.com, the mission loaded up payloads for Argotec, Exolaunch, Loft-EarthDaily, Lynk Global, True Anomaly and Planet Labs — a lineup spanning Earth observation, direct-to-device connectivity and military-focused hardware, all squeezed onto a single Falcon 9.
There’s been a clear shift in expectations for increased government spending. Back in March, Planet reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $307.7 million, marking a 26% jump, with a backlog topping $900 million. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments stood at $640.1 million. The company did, however, post a wider GAAP net loss—$246.9 million—driven largely by a warrant-liability revaluation.
The company is targeting revenue in the range of $415 million to $440 million for fiscal 2027, with adjusted EBITDA forecast between break-even and $10 million. Planned capital spending lands between $80 million and $95 million. Adjusted EBITDA, the company notes, excludes certain costs and differs from net income.
Planet shares ended Friday at $36.90, holding steady compared to the previous session before Sunday’s launch news hit. At that price, the company’s market cap was sitting around $11.4 billion.
Still, actually pulling it off remains uncertain. Planet has flagged the chance that returns from new satellite deployments could fall short—maybe the systems don’t work as intended, maybe delays or costs stack up, or maybe the payoff just doesn’t materialize. Its April AI update echoed that, noting onboard models are early-stage and still undergoing tweaks. For now, the measure is simple: can they turn these fresh satellites overhead into a paid, reliable service for customers demanding quick images, not just plans or promises.
