Planet Labs to Provide Carbon Mapper with Hyperspectral Data

Ibadan, 2 April 2024. – Planet Labs PBC has signed a multi-year data-license agreement with Carbon Mapper, Inc. to provide hyperspectral core imagery to the non-profit and its partners until 2030. The $20 million agreement is made possible by initial funding led by a major climate philanthropy.

Carbon Mapper, Inc. has been a key partner to Planet in developing the Tanager hyperspectral constellation, and this contract extension marks an important step in the continuation of the coalition’s shared mission to help improve understanding of and accelerate reductions in global methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

“Securing this continued partnership with Planet will help Carbon Mapper deliver high-resolution methane and CO2 super-emitter data to decision-makers around the globe,” said Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper’s CEO. “This agreement lays the groundwork for further expansion of the constellation of Tanager satellites and the extension of Carbon Mapper’s mission to make methane and CO2 visible in a transparent fashion through our public data portal.”

Likewise, Mark Keremedjiev, Planet’s Mission Director for the Tanager Hyperspectral Mission, commented, “We are on the verge of being able to precisely characterize facility-scale methane emissions across the globe. We believe the Tanager constellation will help enable real action in the fight against climate change and this contract extension with Carbon Mapper ensures our ability to provide uniquely powerful data for the long term.”

The first Tanager satellite will tentatively launch in 2024 and with designs to capture hyperspectral imagery across the visible and shortwave infrared regions (VSWIR). Furthermore, the contract marks an extension to an existing data-license agreement between Planet Labs and Carbon Mapper. The multi-year extension consequently covers 2026 to 2030. Beyond methane detection and CO2 measurements, Tanager data may also help to address a wide range of potential use cases across commercial, civil, and defense applications.