Planet has announced the creation of a new generation of land surveillance satellites, which will gradually replace the current series of SuperDove devices
The company's co-founder and CEO Will Marshall said in a blog post, that the first satellite of the new class, called Owl, is scheduled to be launched at the end of next year. According to him, the new type of devices will provide more frequent acquisition of the highest quality images and transfer of data to clients within an hour after shooting.
Owl satellites will have resolution 1 meters, while SuperDove provides images with a resolution of 3–4 meters. They will also be equipped with Nvidia processors, which will allow data processing using artificial intelligence directly on board — for example, object recognition or activity detection, which is of interest.
To ensure data continuity, Owl will keep the same spectral channels, as is SuperDove, which will enable users to work with new images without having to change existing analytical algorithms.
As Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer Robbie Shingler noted during a speech at the New Zealand Aerospace Summit 8 October, the company already has an eight-year daily archive of changes in the Earth's surface, which has become a fundamental data layer for many industries.
According to the information provided, Owl satellites will be significantly larger, than the 3U cubesats of the Dove and SuperDove series, that have been running for over a decade. A representative of the company confirmed the increase in size, but did not disclose technical specifications.
According to Marshall, the new mission required a more powerful and modern apparatus. Owl will use an updated avionics system, designed for larger Pelican satellites (high resolution) from Tanager (for hyperspectral imaging). Owl's first technology demonstrator is slated to launch at the end 2026 year, after which the deployment of a full-fledged group will begin.
The Owl announcement comes amid the scaling up of Pelican satellite production. 25 In September, Planet announced the creation of a second factory for their assembly in Berlin, which will double the production capacity and allow to better meet the demand of European customers.
Source: https://spacenews.com