Planet Labs will deploy two SunCatcher prototype satellites equipped with Google Tensor Processing Units in early 2027, according to the company's Q3 2026 earnings call. Google is funding the R&D program through a partnership with Planet's Gemini collaboration team.
The orbital AI compute initiative represents a new convergence point between satellite operators and cloud infrastructure providers. Planet CEO Will Marshall disclosed the SunCatcher project alongside record Q3 financial performance: $81.3M revenue (up 33% year-over-year) and $5.6M adjusted EBITDA, the company's fourth consecutive profitable quarter.
Planet's backlog reached $734.5M, up 216% year-over-year, with defense and intelligence contracts growing 70%. The company secured $12.8M from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for AI-driven maritime analytics and renewed its $21.1M annual NRO contract, which now includes framework provisions for high-resolution Pelican satellite imagery.
The SunCatcher prototypes will test whether satellite-based AI processing can deliver value beyond traditional ground-station compute architectures. Planet already committed to NVIDIA GPUs for its Owl constellation, a next-generation 1-meter monitoring fleet scheduled for late 2026 tech demonstrations. The Google TPU partnership adds a competing approach using tensor-specific chips designed for machine learning workloads.
Planet raised $460M in convertible notes at 0.5% interest during Q3, maintaining $677M cash position. The company projects $297-301M revenue for fiscal 2026 with positive annual free cash flow. CapEx guidance of $81-85M includes hardware prepayments and launch deposits for the expanding satellite fleet.
Defense sector momentum contrasts with commercial segment declines reported quarter-over-quarter. Planet closed its acquisition of Bedrock Research, a Denver-based AI firm specializing in remote sensing for national security applications, strengthening in-house capabilities for government contracts.
The company operates five commercial Pelican satellites and targets 30-satellite deployment for 30-minute latency and 30 daily revisits. Planet has launched over 600 satellites to date, including 36 Super Dove satellites commissioned in Q3 that achieved first light within 24 hours.