Planet Labs PBC and the nonprofit Carbon Mapper announced a partnership to design a new, shortwave‑infrared (SWIR)‑optimized version of the Tanager hyperspectral satellite. The collaboration, backed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will produce a spacecraft that can capture five times the area of the current Tanager design while maintaining the 30‑meter ground‑sample distance that has made the constellation valuable for environmental monitoring.
The new satellite will feature a 100‑kilometer swath, a 30‑meter spatial resolution, and a dedicated SWIR instrument that targets methane’s absorption bands. By concentrating on SWIR, the platform will deliver higher sensitivity to trace gases and enable more frequent, high‑resolution scans of the planet’s surface, improving the detection of methane plumes and other atmospheric constituents.
Planet Labs has been growing its satellite‑services business, reporting record revenue of $86.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026—a 41% year‑over‑year increase—and a net loss of $152.5 million, largely driven by warrant liabilities. The company’s CEO, Will Marshall, said the partnership “expands Planet’s satellite‑services offering and supports our strategy to deliver global insights at scale via AI‑enabled solutions.” CFO Ashley Johnson added that the firm’s balance sheet strength and recent profitability milestones give it the flexibility to invest in new capabilities such as the SWIR‑Tanager.
The partnership aligns with Carbon Mapper’s mission to pinpoint and quantify methane emissions at facility scale. NASA’s JPL will provide the advanced imaging spectrometer that measures hundreds of wavelengths, while Planet Labs will supply the launch and data‑delivery infrastructure. Together, the teams aim to create a constellation that can routinely monitor methane sources worldwide, a capability that is increasingly in demand by governments, utilities, and environmental regulators.
Looking ahead, the SWIR‑Tanager is slated for launch as early as 2028, with Planet Labs planning to deploy additional original‑design Tanagers and at least one more SWIR satellite. The expanded constellation will increase revisit frequency and coverage, positioning Planet Labs to capture new revenue streams in environmental monitoring, mineral exploration, and fire‑fuel assessment, while reinforcing its competitive edge in the growing Earth‑observation market.
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