Google Cloud and Planet Labs are in strategic partnership for analysis of satellite images

Sep, 2021 - By WMR

Planet Labs users can now utilize Google Cloud to process and store data, as well as access Google's other products, such as BigQuery, Google's data analytics warehouse.

The two companies worked together until 2017, when Google sold Terra Bella, a satellite imaging company, to Planet Labs. Google Cloud will cooperate with Planet Labs under this new arrangement to develop collaborative solutions that integrate Planet Lab's high-frequency Earth observation data with Google Cloud's cloud-based infrastructure to allow improved data-driven decision-making.

Planet Labs operates a network of around 200 satellites – more than any other government – and offers analytics services for the data it collects. Planet Labs is currently using GCP to analyze all of its satellite images. The transfer procedure, which began in December 2016, has now been concluded. Planet Lab's expanding imagery library and data pipeline processing are now hosted on Google Cloud. Planet Labs also uses the Google Cloud service for data storage, hosting, and processing.

Google also secured a multi-year agreement with Planet Labs to license Earth-imaging for its usage as part of the purchase agreement. Planet labs collect petabytes of global satellite imagery data every day, resulting in constantly updated insights on our evolving planet Earth. Customers will be able to use Google Cloud's global, flexible infrastructure and BigQuery to analyze large amounts of Planet data on the go, develop scalable processes, and influence business decisions as a result of the new partnership and integrated offering.

Planet Labs business and product head, Kevin Weil, stated that the Planet Labs clients demanded scalable computing and storage. Customers of Google Cloud required more access to satellite data and analytics. This collaboration benefits both companies since it helps clients to change their operations and compete in a digital world by leveraging Planet Lab’s unique data set.