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We are living in the digital age where data is the primary currency. It only makes sense, then, that innovative young companies are taking collection to the final frontier.
Planet Labs is a remarkable business. This tiny San Francisco company plans to continuously surveil the entire planet from space. And they’re using mass-produced smartphone parts to do it.
The idea is not as crazy as it seems. And it is indicative of the new opportunities in space.
Will Marshall, co-founder and chief executive officer at Planet Labs Inc., speaks during the Bloomberg Year Ahead Conference in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. The event will create a 360-degree view of the most urgent topics facing executives in the coming year. Photographer: Alex Flynn/Bloomberg
The company was founded in 2010, as Cosmogia. A trio of NASA engineers became intrigued by the development of smartphones. Even then, the devices had more processing power and better sensors than very expensive satellites. They saw a rare opportunity to disrupt aerospace.
They called it agile aerospace.
From Smartphones to Satellites
Chris Boshuizen, Will Marshall and later Robbie Schingler began building mini satellites from off-the-shelf sensors and cheap smartphone components. In 2013, three pint-sized satellites named Alexander, Graham and Bell were launched at a development cost of only $7,000.
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