Planet to Launch Pelican Tech Demonstration and 36 SuperDoves with SpaceX

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, announced that its Pelican tech demonstration satellite, Pelican-1, along with 36 SuperDoves, Flock 4Q, will be launching on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 mission on Saturday, November 11, 2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX’s launch window will open at 10:49 a.m. PT.

Designed and built in-house by Planet, Pelican-1 is a technology demonstration satellite whose mission objective is to validate the design and operations of Planet’s common bus platform. This platform will host Planet’s next generation of imaging sensors, to be deployed as part of the Pelican and Tanager constellations. The Pelican constellation is designed to replenish and improve upon Planet’s existing high-resolution systems in orbit today, its SkySats, and is not expected to produce commercial imagery until further iterations of the Pelican satellite platform become operational.

The 36 SuperDoves onboard will contribute to Planet’s daily, global monitoring mission. Planet has launched over 500 of its flagship Dove-series satellites since 2013, capturing a rich archive of change on Earth. The daily scan and 2,400 image-deep historical archive is used by hundreds of customers in defense, civil government, and commercial markets to make more informed decisions.