customers operate in over 100 differ- ent countries and are really focused on actually building businesses, building a product that can scale and that will really solve the problem. So we see ourselves as more of a platform and an enabler that allows for people to come up with new products and services that were not pos- sible before. Because we’re doing a lot of the hard-core remote sensing work to get all of that data co-registered, co- aligned, activated to the cloud, then also with the core machine-learning analytics that allow for our users and customers to build novel products and solutions. So that’s the reason why we partner with a lot of people that actually are building applications that are derived from Earth observation data.
Another program, I think, that’s really specific and useful for the Army and the government in general is that we are an unclassified and commercial company. And there are many workflows and use
FROM LAB TO LAUNCH
Forty-eight of Planet’s Dove satellites—known as Flock 2K—are prepped for launch. Launch prep includes planning for possible failure: Planet lost 26 satellites when the rocket they were attached to blew up on the launch pad. Planet owns satellites, but not rockets, so the company has negotiated with India, Russia, the U.S. and private companies launching their own rockets, to send Doves into space.
Ultimately, the reason why we’re going into space is to collect unique information—and, with that unique information, to allow for people to make better decisions.
cases that we aren’t aware of that the government has and truly needs. So we have a partner program for system inte- grators and for companies that exist to help the government solve their prob- lems. And they are able to take this new commercial tool and then customize ele- ments of it so that they can modernize internal workflow within the U.S. gov- ernment. Tat’s something that I think is just beginning. It takes quite a bit of time in order to modify a workflow. By blending in some automation, you can really increase the ROI [return on investment] of the people and the assets that are already deployed to solve gov- ernment needs.
Army AL&T: I wonder if you could talk for a minute about failure. It seems like a certain amount of failure is built into your business plan. You’ve lost satellites when rockets exploded on the launch pad.
Your satellites have a life span of about three years, but you’re constantly tinker- ing and upgrading and changing.
Schingler: We test, learn and iterate on our technology constantly, whether it’s a new sensor or a new technology in space, or whether it’s how we manufac- ture our satellites or how we build out our ground stations or build out our automated mission control and our data pipeline and our analytics. We abide by the popular principle of a highly aligned and loosely coupled organization. Tat allows for each of those nodes to be con- stantly upgraded over time. Tat then ends up increasing the value that comes out in the end for the user and for the customer. Tat’s how we actually develop the technology.
Te way that we operate the technology is to be reliable, because what comes out in
ASC.ARMY.MIL 235
CRITICAL THINKING
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