SKY Perfect JSAT × Planet Labs PBC
In January 2025, Planet signed a $230 million agreement with SKY Perfect JSAT (JSAT) to build and operate a dedicated constellation of ten Pelican satellites owned by JSAT. [1, 14] Planet will retain the ability to sell data collected by these satellites to its other data customers, effectively getting paid to build satellites it already needed while adding a major new revenue stream. [28]
The asset
A dedicated constellation of ten Pelican high-resolution satellites to be built and operated by Planet, with Planet retaining the right to sell the collected data to other customers.
- 10 satellites
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- satellite imagery and data
- Modalities
- satellite imagery
What it means if you hold data
This deal showcases a creative financing and data acquisition model, where the satellite operator gets paid to build out its constellation for a dedicated customer while also retaining the rights to commercialize the data collected, significantly de-risking capital expenditure.