Planet to Provide Real-Time Data and Connectivity Solutions for NASA’s CSP
August 23 2022 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Planet Selected as Subcontractor for SES
Government Solutions and Telesat Government Solutions to Help Build
Real-time Connectivity Solutions
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and
insights about Earth, today announced that it has been selected by
two companies, SES Government Solutions and Telesat Government
Solutions, to demonstrate real-time space-to-space connectivity
solutions from LEO satellites to other in-space communication
satellites operated by SES and Telesat for NASA’s Communication
Services Project, or “CSP”.
With NASA’s plans to decommission its owned and operated
satellites which are a part of the Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite System (TDRSS) in the coming years, the agency will
evaluate the feasibility of commercial networks to reliably support
future near-Earth missions. As part of Planet’s involvement in CSP,
Planet will accelerate its R&D for near-Earth space
communication capabilities on its future earth-observation
satellites. Planet will work to demonstrate its state-of-the art
communication technology stack involving real-time satellite
connectivity for NASA’s CSP, with the goal of further building its
relationship with the agency and enabling low latency solutions for
Planet customers.
“We are really proud to support NASA’s mission to shape and
accelerate next generation near earth in-space communication
capabilities being developed in partnership with the private
sector,” said Planet Co-Founder and CSO, Robbie Schingler. “We’re
proud to work with SES and Telesat Government Solutions to align
our respective technology investments and business operations to
create ultra-low-latency communication capabilities. Such
capabilities could be leveraged by NASA and other government and
commercial space actors, including Planet’s future satellite
constellations, and we believe will create differentiating products
and increase time-to-value for our Earth Data platform
customers.”
With SES Government Solutions, Planet will work to develop and
demonstrate a ubiquitous, always-on low-latency connectivity
solution enabled by SES’s multi-orbit fleet of geostationary (GEO)
and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations including
on-demand intersatellite-link connectivity via the O3b mPower
satellite communications system.
With Telesat Government Solutions, Planet will work to build
space-based RF terminals that will be hosted on two Earth
observation spacecraft. Once in orbit, Telesat Government Solutions
will demonstrate Ka-band, high throughput transmission from the
space-based RF terminals to Telesat operated satellites flying at a
higher altitude, as well as mesh, space relay connectivity between
the optically linked Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites before
downlinking data to representative NASA operation centers.
Following Planet’s agile aerospace philosophy, Planet looks to
demonstrate various aspects of this technology via ground and
on-orbit tests with the Pelican satellites that Planet intends to
launch starting in the calendar year 2023. These missions may
enable Planet to bring next-generation technologies into operation
faster and at a lower cost than would be possible otherwise. Planet
expects that intersatellite link capabilities will enable Planet to
leap forward in speed of delivery to commercial customers – going
from data delivery timelines on order of hours from existing
constellations down to minutes with future systems – bringing value
to users across a range of applications from disaster response to
national security.
Planet has a close and productive relationship with NASA,
providing access to PlanetScope imagery for scientific research use
for all U.S. Federal Civilian researchers and National Science
Foundation funded researchers.
About Planet Labs PBC
Planet is a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery
and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image
the world every day, and make change visible, accessible and
actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet
designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet
of imaging satellites, capturing over 30 TB of data per day. Planet
provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software
solutions to over 800 customers, comprising the world’s leading
agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance
companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and
effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery. Planet is a
public benefit corporation trading on the New York Stock Exchange
as PL. To learn more visit www.planet.com and follow us on
Twitter.
Forward-looking
Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the
matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including,
but not limited to, Planet’s ability to capture market opportunity
and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future
contract awards, product enhancements, new products, or strategic
partnerships and customer collaborations and Planet’s ability to
successfully design, build, launch and deploy, operate and market
new products and satellites and the Company’s ability to realize
any of the potential benefits from product and satellite launches,
either as designed, within the expected time frame, in a
cost-effective manner, or at all. Forward-looking statements are
based on Planet’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made
by, and information currently available to them. Because such
statements are based on expectations as to future events and
results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ
materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual
results to differ materially from current expectations include, but
are not limited to: Planet’s ability to obtain and maintain
required licenses and approvals from regulatory agencies, such as
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a timely fashion,
or at all; whether Planet will be able to successfully design,
build, launch and deploy or operate its satellites, including new
satellites either as designed, in a timely fashion or at all;
Planet’s ability to develop and release product and service
enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to
develop new designs and technologies for its satellites (including
integrations with other third party satellite technology and
operations), in a timely and cost-effective manner; whether Planet
will be able to continue to invest in scaling its sales
organization, expanding its software engineering (including its
ability to integrate new satellite capabilities) and marketing
capabilities; whether Planet will be able to accurately predict and
capture market opportunity; Planet’s ability to invest in sales,
marketing and software solutions to drive expansion within its
existing customer base and further penetrate verticals; Planet’s
ability to obtain or maintain regulatory approvals and/or adhere to
regulatory requirements, including those related to Planet’s
ability to operate as a subcontractor with the required security
clearances; changes in government policies regarding use of
commercial data or satellite operators, material delay or
cancellation of government programs, government spending
authorizations and budgetary priorities (including incremental
funding); changes in general global economic conditions, Planet’s
operations (including the design, building, launch, deployment and
operation of satellites) or the technology and/or integration
operations of Planet’s strategic partners that may alter or delay
Planet’s ability to perform under current or future contracts; the
cancellation or non-performance of contracts by strategic partners
; and the risk factors and other disclosures about Planet and its
business included in Planet’s periodic reports, proxy statements,
and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online
at www.sec.gov, and on Planet’s website at www.planet.com. All
forward-looking statements reflect Planet’s beliefs and assumptions
only as of the date such statements are made. Planet undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future
events or circumstances.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220823005164/en/
Planet Press Claire Bentley comms@planet.com
Planet Investor Relations Chris Genualdi, Cleo Palmer-Poroner
ir@planet.com
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