Planet Labs PBC launched three new Pelican satellites on Sunday, May 3 2026, aboard a SpaceX CAS500‑2 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The launch added three high‑resolution imaging spacecraft to the company’s growing constellation.
Each Pelican satellite delivers 50‑centimetre resolution imagery and is equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson AI platform for on‑orbit processing, enabling near real‑time data analysis and a daily global imaging capacity that supports both commercial and defense customers.
The launch includes the first satellite under a multi‑year, low nine‑figure agreement with the Swedish Armed Forces, estimated at $141 million. The contract marks Planet’s expansion into a new European defense customer and extends its customer‑funded constellation model beyond the United States and Canada.
Will Marshall, Planet’s CEO, said, "Europe needs its own eyes, and Sweden is leading the way by rapidly securing its own, comprehensive space capability – helping achieve its own security objectives and assisting regional allies, like Ukraine, with timely, critical information." He added, "By leveraging Planet's scaled production line and agile aerospace methodology, Sweden achieves both the speed and the long‑term sovereignty they require, without compromise." Marshall also noted, "Kicking off our first Pelican launch of 2026 demonstrates the pace at which we're scaling our most advanced constellation to date, with higher resolution, faster repeat rates, and lower latency," and "By integrating the NVIDIA Jetson platform directly onboard, we are effectively adding a high‑functioning AI 'brain' to our satellite 'eyes' – working to enable answers in minutes rather than hours. This is a move beyond mere imagery towards what we call Planetary Intelligence. By running AI at the edge, we're striving to provide customers with near real‑time answers about the planet, and move insights from the digital to the physical world."
The launch underscores Planet’s strategy of rapid, customer‑funded deployment and positions the company to capture a growing share of the defense and intelligence market. It also signals the company’s continued investment in AI‑enabled Earth observation, with plans to launch additional Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pelican satellites later in 2026, the latter offering up to 30‑centimetre resolution.
While the launch reinforces Planet’s market position, no immediate market reaction data are available at this time.
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