Planet Labs Commercial Revenue Is Softening
When Planet Labs went public in 2021, the company touted a commercial Earth observation market on the verge of an inflection point.
When Planet Labs went public in 2021, the company touted a commercial Earth observation market on the verge of an inflection point.
It was a Willy Wonka-style event—a wealthy entrepreneur finally opening the doors to his secretive facility filled with innovative gadgets at a scale beyond imagination. However, instead of chocolate rivers, fizzy-lifting drinks, and Everlasting Gobstoppers, we were treated to fuel lines, heavy-lifting rockets, and boosters designed to last 25 launches.
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The seasoned prime outwits the SPAC investors.
Over the past two weeks, two federal watchdogs—the OIG and the GAO—released separate reports highlighting critical issues with two Artemis IV vehicles: Gateway and SLS Block 1B, the upgraded SLS variant.
In 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately funded, fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle to reach orbit. Its development cost? Just $90M ($131M inflation adj.).
Out are the days of onesie twosies large GEO satcom birds, and in are the mega-constellations in LEO, consisting of an army of hundreds or thousands of smaller satellites that provide ultra-fast connectivity.
Space businesses have gained a reputation as cash-burning machines. Investors typically fork over tens of millions in development dollars before a startup can launch a single piece of hardware.
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There were 63 total global launches in Q2 2024, a 40% YoY increase. The usual suspects, SpaceX and China, are once again leading the charge.