Planet Labs
The Earth-imagery company nobody talks about. Largest commercial imagery fleet in orbit, doing 200+ million daily observations. The NRO's ten-year commercial imagery award is the anchor. The AI-analytics upsell is the swing factor. PL is quietly closing in on positive free cash flow for the first time.
Planet operates two constellations: SuperDove for daily global scan (200+ satellites) and Pelican for tasked high-res imagery. The commercial model is subscription data plus tasking, sold into defense, insurance, agriculture, and now AI training.
The National Reconnaissance Office's Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract runs through 2032 and is worth roughly $146M per year at the ceiling. The bigger swing is Planet AI: analytics products (change detection, vessel tracking, crop monitoring) that raise ARPU without adding satellites.
Watch: NRO contract utilization, Planet AI attach rate, and the timeline to sustained positive free cash flow. Management has guided FY27.