Key Points
Planet Labs has integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into its Pelican-4 satellites, powered by Nvidia's Jetson Orin module.
Having AI chips on board its satellites reduces latency and provides insights in minutes.
The company is also establishing itself in defense and intelligence by securing contracts, such as the SHIELD contract with the Missile Defense Agency.
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The space economy is on the rise, and one company making waves is Planet Labs (NYSE: PL). With its fleet of satellites circling the planet and capturing snapshots daily, Planet Labs has emerged as a leader in Earth imagery.
The company recently took a step forward by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) directly into its satellites, enabling it to deliver valuable insights to customers in just minutes. For investors looking to tap into the future of space technology, here's why Planet Labs stock deserves a look.
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Planet Labs' AI upgrade can provide insights in minutes, not hours
Planet Labs implemented on-orbit artificial intelligence (AI) inference directly on its Pelican-4 satellite, powered by Nvidia's Jetson Orin module. Traditionally, Planet Labs would capture the image, download it, process it on Earth, and then send alerts to analysts, a process that could take hours. By implementing inference directly, its satellite can process data in space and provide insights in minutes.
The company demonstrated this in March, when it orbited 500 kilometers above Alice Springs, Australia, and captured an image of the airport there, aiming to detect airplanes on the ground at the moment the image was taken and report the information without human intermediaries. The detection achieved 80% accuracy on raw imagery, and the company will need to improve both precision and recall before putting it into practice. That said, CEO Will Marshall described this as a "nervous system for the planet," where AI-equipped satellites can act as decision-makers rather than just cameras.
This is part of its Planetary Intelligence initiative, and running AI on board its satellites reduces the time from data capture and lowers latency, providing real-time insights. This is a shift to edge computing in space, where the satellite itself behaves like a mini data center and moves the company beyond a simple satellite imagery company to a broader intelligence platform that can understand the world below.
Planet Labs is finding a place as a defense and intelligence company
Planet Labs is incorporating AI to better serve its commercial and defense customers and provide faster, more accurate insights. It was recently selected as a prime contractor for the SHIELD (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) contract by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), where it will use AI detection to provide warning systems for the government.
Beyond this, Planet Labs has partnered with Alphabet to explore prototype satellites for orbital data centers, which could lead to huge future cloud-infrastructure contracts in space. It has also signed deals with Sweden, Japan, and Germany, worth over $500 million, cementing its status as a key partner for NATO and allied nations seeking companies with established satellite fleets and AI capabilities.
An investment for the growing space economy
Planet Labs' use of Earth imagery is getting an upgrade thanks to AI and has emerged as a key partner for the United States and allied countries for defense and intelligence purposes. That said, Planet Labs is not yet profitable and projects capital expenditures of between $80 million and $95 million as it expands manufacturing and launches more satellites into space.
Planet Labs is still establishing itself and, with profitability years away, isn't a good fit for conservative investors. However, if you are more aggressive and have a longer time horizon, Planet Labs is a good space stock to consider as the space economy expands in the coming decades.
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Courtney Carlsen has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Nvidia, and Planet Labs PBC. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
