Will Marshall, co-founder of Earth-imaging company Planet, discusses the cost and strategy of launching their earliest prototype satellites as secondary payloads on commercial rockets.
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“I think it was 300,000 dollars for the first one, and it was about that for the second one, and we decided it'd be best to put one satellite on each of two rockets to give a bit of redundancy.”
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More from Will Marshall
Insight
Marshall: Large satellite constellations allow companies to tolerate higher unit failure risk
“Mainly it's about a risk approach, which is just assuming more risk per satellite. Okay, that one satellite has slightly more chance of having a dust on it, but we're going to put more satellites up than we need, and if a couple have that, it's not the end of …”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 39:18Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
AssertionPartly supported
Marshall: SpaceX's reusable rockets drove a fourfold drop in launch costs
“The rockets have, in fact, got cheaper. Just the last five or so years, they've gone down about fourfold, and mainly because of SpaceX. SpaceX, with its reusable rockets, has brought the price down”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 45:18Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
Insight
Marshall: Transparency regarding nations' military activities increases the likelihood of peace
“The more information different countries have about each other's activities, including military activities, the more it's likely to be peace.”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 51:04Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
Disclosure
Marshall: Planet has repeatedly refused data requests to prevent civilian harm
“We have our own ethics committee. That reviews every case with the government and checks. Is, is there some way in which this might bring civilian harm? And we have many cases refused to give data where we think that would be the case.”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 52:04Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
PredictionDidn’t hold up
Marshall: Planet projects over 40% annual growth and profitability within two years
“So we have very clear line of sight now on a growth path, you know, going just over 40% a year for the next five years we project. And that gets us to profitability in the next couple of years.”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 55:12Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
AssertionSupported
Marshall: Pre-Planet Earth imagery was only captured monthly or annually
“Typically before our mission, you could only get a new image of the Earth maybe once every month or sometimes every year, depending on the resolution you needed.”
Will MarshallDec 13, 2021▶ 22:29Planet: Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler
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