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Pelican
Courtesy of Planet Labs PBC · Press kit, editorial use (opens planet.com)

Pelican

by Planet LabsUS

DeployStage 4 of 5

Being launched to replace SkySat with sharper images and faster response.

Updated 25 Sep 2025Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Build out Pelican constellation
  1. Pelican-1 technology demonstrator launched11 Nov 2023Complete.
  2. Tanager-1 gas-spotting satellite launched16 Aug 2024Complete.
  3. First operational Pelicans launchedJan 2025Complete.
  4. Build out Pelican constellationNowCurrent milestone.

Most important updates

  • 25 Sep 2025
  • 26 Aug 2025
  • Jul 2025
  • Jan 2025
  • 16 Aug 2024

Current obstacles

  • Turning pixels into revenueSatellite photos are getting cheap; the money is in analysis and government contracts.

Physics limits

  • Diffraction ties detail to telescope sizeLight spreads as it passes an aperture. From 500 km up, seeing 30 cm detail in visible light needs a mirror about 1 m wide, which sets satellite size and cost.
  • Clouds hide about two-thirds of EarthAt any moment roughly two-thirds of the planet is under cloud. Optical satellites can't see through it, so revisits, not just resolution, decide what gets seen.
  • Downlink bandwidth caps how much can be sentA satellite can only talk to ground stations for minutes per pass, and radio bandwidth is limited. High-resolution imaging produces far more data than can be sent down.

How it works

3 parts
Not Pelican: a Texas race track seen by Planet's older SkySat, cars in the lots just visible; Pelican's sharper telescope resolves finer detail
Not Pelican: a Texas race track seen by Planet's older SkySat, cars in the lots just visible; Pelican's sharper telescope resolves finer detailPhoto: Planet Labs, Inc. · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens commons.wikimedia.org)
Optics

Sharper telescope

A larger telescope than Planet's Doves resolves details tens of centimetres across.

Agility

Turns quickly to a target

The satellite slews to point at requested spots, taking many targets per pass instead of a fixed strip.

Onboard

Processing in orbit

An onboard computer can process images in orbit, so users get answers sooner and less raw data has to be downlinked.

Update log

6 updates

Thu 25 Sep 2025

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

Tue 26 Aug 2025

  • Minor: PressHardware

Jul 2025

  • Major: PressCommercial

Jan 2025

  • Major: PressCommercial

Fri 16 Aug 2024

  • Minor: PressHardware

Sat 11 Nov 2023

  • Minor: PressHardware

About Planet Labs

The team behind Pelican

Planet Labs

Earth-photo satellites, daily images

Planet runs the biggest fleet of Earth-photo satellites, photographing all land on Earth about once a day with small SuperDoves, plus sharper Pelican and SkySat satellites and Tanager, which spots gases.

  • Pioneered mass-produced tiny satellites for daily photos of Earth.
  • Pelican is its next satellite: sharper photos, taken more often.
  • Its Tanager-1 satellite spots methane and CO2 leaks, with Carbon Mapper.

planet.com (opens planet.com)Company profile →

Founded
201016 yrs
Headquarters
United States
Status
Public
Listed
PL (opens google.com)NYSE
Valuation
public
Works in
SpaceflightSatellites
Coverage
1 program · 6 updateslatest 25 Sep 2025checked 25 Sep
People
Will MarshallCo-founder and CEORobbie SchinglerCo-founder
Primer