Planet captured this image in 2017 of San Francisco, where the company moved Nov. 26 to a new 2,500 square meter headquarters with six times the manufacturing space as its previous facility and room to build 40 Dove cubesats per week. Credit: Planet

Planet sets sights on the long game: Building robust subscription business

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Planet's employees, customers and investors paint a picture of a company growing steadily while seeking to dramatically expand the market for data captured via satellite.

From the Magazine Planetsatellite imagery
“The real opportunity is to deliver insight in a way that helps anyone make a better decision,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer, shown above speaking at GEOINT 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. “That’s when we will evolve this smaller industry, which is about a $5 billion addressable market, to be part of the business-to-business information services economy, a $100 billion, $200 billion industry. That’s what we’re focused on.” Credit: @GEOINTSYMPOSIUM via Twitter

Forecasts call for rapid growth in Earth observation market

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Two consulting firms anticipate strong demand for commercial Earth observation products and services in the next decade as satellite constellations offer an increasing array of optical, radar, hyperspectral and video imagery and data.

From the Magazine Earth observation
North America is expected to generate 40 percent of satellite machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) revenue by 2027. *Includes both GEO-based and smallsat constellations. Credit: NSR

Op-ed | IoT smallsats: Ready for launch?

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In recent years, there has been a boom of announcements for satellite constellations comprising satellites weighing as little as 3 kilograms to address a growing market of machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) via satellite.

From the Magazine Internet of ThingsSmallsat
A Space Force without the complementary effort of diplomacy and confidence building would be a recipe for incalculable escalation of unnecessary tension between states. Credit: SpaceNews illustration

Op-ed | Expanding space security options through gender perspectives

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A Space Force without the complementary effort of diplomacy and confidence building would be a recipe for incalculable escalation of unnecessary tension between states.

From the Magazine GenderSpace security
Bridenstine NASA CLPS

Foust Forward | For NASA’s return to the moon, a little something to cheer about

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NASA sees CLPS as a way to achieve low-cost science at the moon, including work identifying resources that could support future human exploration. More importantly, though, it acknowledges that CLPS is a risky endeavor, with many companies likely to suffer technical or financial failures.

From the Magazine MoonNASA
CETel operates a 30-antenna teleport near Bonn and Cologne, Germany. Credit: CETel

Teleports ramp cyber defenses as digitization increases hacker threat

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The satellite industry has so far managed to avoid a high-profile cyber attack, something experts attribute both to the industry’s vigilance and how oblivious much of the world is to the magnitude of the services it provides.

From the Magazine cybersecuritySatellite teleports
Just because Russia and China are building ASAT weapons does not mean ASAT weapons should be the cornerstone of America's response. Credit: iStock photo illustration

Op-ed | Real talk and real solutions to real space threats

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While there are indeed real threats the United States faces in space, the political and public discourse about both the threats and solutions leaves much to be desired.

From the Magazine Military Spacenational securitySpace Force
A U.S. soldier sets up an antenna in order to transmit a situational report to his higher command during a patrol with Turkish military forces along the demarcation line outside Manbij, Syria, in July. Credit: U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster

Future military satcom system puts cybersecurity first

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Electronic threats against satellite communication have rapidly escalated in the last few years and will continue to advance in the foreseeable future.

From the Magazine AEHFcybersecuritymilitary satellites
Paul Graziani, Analytial Graphics Inc. CEO and co-founder. Credit: AGI

Space tracking is about to become much more demanding

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Spacecraft and debris tracking is a serious problem that is about to get worse as companies prepare to send hundreds or thousands of satellites into megaconstellations, said Paul Graziani, Analytical Graphics Inc. chief executive and co-founder.

From the Magazine AGIspace debris
For the Chinese military, space is not about space at all. It is about information — how to ensure the [People’s Liberation Army] gets it, as well as how to ensure that an adversary does not. Credit: Kremlin.Ru photo

Op-ed | Space Force: premature or overdue?

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What both the Russian and Chinese space forces reflect is a shifting view of the nature of future conflict, and the place space has within that view.

From the Magazine ChinaRussiaSpace Force
When President Trump announced plans for a Space Force, it triggered a legal debate on the justification for such a force. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

On National Security | Signs of change in military space

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The fate of the Trump administration’s Space Force plan is very much up in the air. One takeaway from the results of the midterm elections is that this is likely to be a protracted and contentious fight.

From the Magazine Space Force
The Spacety team. Credit: Spacety

Microsatellite maker Spacety looks to fill the gaps in the new Chinese market

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Spacety is one of China’s first commercial and private satellite companies in China, established in January 2016, following new government policies introduced in 2014 and 2015 to deregulate the nation’s space sector.

From the Magazine ChinaSpacety
Elon Musk speaks at the ISS Research and Development Conference in Washington July 19. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust

Foust Forward | Moving the needle, ever so slightly, towards space settlement

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For decades, space advocates have promoted a vision of space settlement: people living permanently in space, be it on the moon or Mars, or in self-contained space colonies proposed in the 1970s by Gerard K. O’Neill.

From the Magazine space settlement
“No one has a higher vested interest in keeping their orbits clean than large constellations.” Ted Muelhaupt, The Aerospace Corporation. Credit: iStock illustration

Will megaconstellations cause a dangerous spike in orbital debris?

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It’s no secret the megaconstellations will have a dramatic impact on space traffic. Experts now are turning their attention to ensuring they don’t also create a dangerous spike in orbital debris.

From the Magazine Megaconstellationsspace debris
Burloak Technologies purchased the EBAM 110, one of the world's largest additive manufacturing systems, in October. Credit: Sciaky

Additive machines prompt companies to throw out the rule books

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Space system engineers, who once saw additive manufacturing as a way to trim the size and weight of conventional components, are beginning to see its true potential.

From the Magazine additive manufacturing
SSL flew its first printed aluminum parts in September with the launch of Telesat’s Telstar 18 Vantage communications satellite. Credit: SSL

SSL additively expands additive manufacturing from brackets to antenna towers

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With four more of its satellites launched between July 22 and Sept. 25, Space Systems Loral now has more than 1,000 additively manufactured parts in orbit on 15 spacecraft.

From the Magazine additive manufacturingSSL

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