Wed, 29 Jan 2025

Planet lands $230 million contract for Pelican imagery satellites

Satellite imagery and data analysis company Planet announced it had signed a $230 million contract, with an anchor customer furthering its Pelican satellites.
The agreement will see Planet build Pelican satellites for the customer, which is a long-standing partner in the Asia-Pacific region. The contract covers two years of construction and five years of operation, with payments recognized over seven years. Planet expects to start seeing benefits to its balance sheet from fiscal 2026, although the deal does not impact its current quarter results guidance. The company plans to deploy a constellation of up to 32 Pelican satellites, replacing its SkySat line acquired from Google in 2017. Shares of Planet rose as much as 14% before closing 1.65% higher on Wednesday, following news of the contract and an earlier announcement of a multi-year deal with the European Space Agency.
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