The American company Planet, which already operates 200 daily Earth observation satellites from space, announced on Tuesday that it wanted to launch a new fleet of even more precise satellites, capable of distinguishing even road markings on the ground.
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This new function, available from 2023, can for example be used by one of Planet's main customers, Google, for its Google Maps mapping service. “
This is a brand new satellite,
” Robbie Schingler, former NASA co-founder of Planet, told AFP in 2010. “
The data is faster, the resolution is better.
"
The announcement, made on the occasion of the company's annual conference, underlines the dynamism of the booming nanosatellite market.
Their applications can be multiple: environmental (spotting illegal forest clearers, observing the state of crops, etc.), but also defense (monitoring troop movements, airport activity, etc. ).
They can also help support rescue operations, for example by observing the spread of a fire.
A new fleet called "Pelican"
Planet already has a fleet of 180 satellites called “
Dove
”, which take a picture of the entire planet every day, as well as 21 satellites that can be used to photograph a particular location, up to 10 times a day. The new fleet, which has been named “
Pelican
”, is a modernized extension of these 21 satellites, which have a lifespan of five to six years and the first of which were launched in 2014.
There are currently approximately two hours between taking a photo and sending it.
The new satellites, designed and manufactured by Planet, "
will be better,
" said Robbie Schingler, without wanting to reveal the new reduced lead time.
They will also be able to go beyond the 10 photographs per day.
"
We will launch the first one next year, then in 2023 we will launch what will be more like a constellation,
" he told AFP.
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How many of these new satellites will eventually fly overhead?
“
It depends on the contracts,
” said Robbie Schingler.
“
We can add dozens and dozens, and even hundreds.
The company also announced a new service for processing the data collected, in order to facilitate their interpretation for the organizations subscribing to it.
Planet currently has approximately 700 clients, government and private, and produces more than three million images daily.
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