Planet Labs Launches 20 Satellites Including Google's First Orbital Computing Payload
Planet Labs launches 20 satellites aboard the Transporter-18 mission, including a satellite carrying Google's first AI processing units in orbit, driving its stock price up.
American company Planet Labs announced the arrival of 20 of its satellites into orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The group includes 18 SuperDove remote sensing satellites, a Tanager-2 hyperspectral imaging satellite, and a satellite from the Suncatcher project built in collaboration with Alphabet, carrying Google's Tensor Processing Units.
Company CEO Will Marshall described the launch as the company's 40th successful mission, stating that it marks the first time these processing units have been launched into space. The Transporter-18 mission launched about 130 payloads into polar orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, deployed in approximately 11 minutes, while Booster B1082 completed its 25th landing at Landing Zone 4. Announced payloads included a Google AI prototype and a methane detector.
Planet Labs stock rose about 7.8% in morning trading as investor demand for commercial space sector stocks increased. Earlier reports indicated that Google launched its first orbital AI payload on this flight to test in-space computing.
The combination of Earth observation satellites and ambitious computing payloads reflects an accelerating intersection between the space sector and the artificial intelligence sector, as tech giants seek to test the viability of operating computing infrastructure beyond Earth's atmosphere. This trajectory remains in its early stages and requires years of testing before transitioning into commercial services.
What do these terms mean?
SuperDove: A small remote sensing satellite used by Planet Labs to image the Earth's surface daily. Hyperspectral imaging: A technology that captures light across multiple narrow bands to identify material compositions from afar. Tensor Processing Unit: A chip designed by Google to accelerate the training and running of AI models. Polar orbit: An orbit in which a satellite passes over the Earth's North and South poles, commonly used for monitoring and reconnaissance missions.
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