An animated rendering of a Pelican satellite in orbit.
Planet
Satellite imagery and data analysis company Planet announced it had signed a $230 million contract on Wednesday, with an anchor customer furthering the rollout of its next-generation Pelican satellites.
“It is a momentum-building event. … It’s both our biggest deal ever and it’s a significant step for us into this satellite services business,” Planet CEO Will Marshall told CNBC.
Planet’s deal will see it build Pelican satellites in service to a company in the Asia-Pacific region. Planet said the customer will be identified at a later date, but described the company as a long-standing partner. Marshall said the contract covers “a couple of years to construct” the satellites “and then five years of operation.”
“They get dedicated access to the satellites that we’re launching for them within their [area of interest] in Asia, and then for the rest of the world, we get to license…
