Planet teams with SpaceX to expand its Earth-observation constellation

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  SkySat image of Madrid taken from 450km. [credit: Planet ]

The California-based satellite company Planet is nearing its 10th anniversary, and over that time, it has launched about 300 small satellites, mostly CubeSats nicknamed "Doves." The company's goal is in its name: image the planet daily for commercial and government customers while monitoring changing trends.

As time has gone on, customers have begun to ask for higher-resolution imagery. So in recent years, Planet acquired a small fleet of larger satellites known as SkySats, capable of taking pictures with a resolution of less than a meter. Fifteen SkySats are currently in space, and the company hopes to add six more over this summer.

SkySats offer a resolution of about 80cm, which is pretty good for commercially available imagery. However, some customers wanted even clearer images-particularly mapping companies trying to identify markers on the road and other features for autonomous driving technology.

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