Japan's SKY Perfect To Build Defense Satellite Constellation

Pelican is a series of high-resolution electro-optical satellites developed by Planet Labs. Each satellite is 1.3 meters tall, 0.79 meters wide and 1.15 meters long during launch, 2.84 meters wide and 0.89 meters long in orbit, and weighs 215 kilograms.

The newest model, Pelican-2, introduced in January, is equipped with the NVIDIA Jetson Edge AI platform, which speeds up the processing and transmission of data from hours to minutes. It was first launched on a SpaceX rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California in January.

The satellites built for SKY Perfect are scheduled to be launched beginning in late 2026 or early 2027. They will circle the Earth every 90 minutes or so, taking photos with resolution reportedly as fine as 30 centimeters.

In addition to space defense and intelligence, the satellites will be able to monitor natural disasters, environmental conditions, land use and other terrestrial features, providing useful information for crisis and resource management, environmental protection, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, insurance, and other civil government and commercial purposes.

The agreement with SKY Perfect is the third strategic partnership Planet has formed recently and the company's largest single contract to date.

In 2021, Planet began working with the non-profit Carbon Mapper coalition, designing and building satellites and providing data analytics to monitor the presence of methane and CO2 in the atmosphere. Other members of the coalition include the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the California Air Resources Board and the University of Arizona.

In 2022, Planet became a subcontractor to SES Space & Defense and Telesat Government Solutions in support of NASA's Communications Services Project (CSP). Those two companies provide satellite communications technology to the US and allied governments.

CSP is working with the private sector to develop new satellite communications technologies for government missions such as the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope, and commercial interests.

Planet also works with the European Space Agency, the German Space Agency, the US Department of Defense, foreign defense customers and other clients – including the Brazilian Federal Police and Brazilian geospatial technology company SCCON, to monitor the Amazon rainforest.

SKY Perfect JSAT was created in 2007 through the merger of SKY Perfect Communications and JSAT Corporation. Three years later, it rolled out BS SKY PerfecTV, a new digital broadcasting satellite TV channel. In 2014, it went international, broadcasting Japanese TV programs to audiences in Indonesia.

In the second half of the decade, SKY Perfect JSAT embarked on a series of tie-ups with foreign and domestic companies that turned it into the international provider of satellite media, communications and Earth observation services that it is today:

• 2016 – formed a business alliance with KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services), the Norwegian ground network operator, to introduce ground station services for low earth orbit satellites.

• 2017 – concluded a satellite image analysis solutions reseller agreement with Orbital Insight , a geospatial analytics company based in Palo Alto, California.

• 2020 – formed a business alliance with Japanese companies Zenrin and Nippon Koei to provide a satellite-based disaster prevention information service.

• 2021 – began collaborating with Japanese satellite manufacturer and operator iQPS to develop a small SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite business. With its constellation of 36 light-weight, low-cost satellites, iQPS can provide the Japanese Ministry of Defense and other clients with high-resolution images of almost any place on Earth within 10 minutes, day or night, regardless of weather.

• 2022 – established Space Compass , a joint venture with Japanese national telecommunications company NTT, to build an integrated satellite computing and communications network in the stratosphere and in orbit around the earth.

• 2023 – SKY Perfect and KSAT entered into an agreement to provide JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) with near-earth tracking and control services.

• 2023 – entered into a collaboration with Amazon's low earth orbit satellite broadband network Project Kuiper and NTT to advanced satellite connectivity technology in Japan.

• 2024 – spun out Orbital Lasers to further the development of compact, high-powered satellite laser systems for space debris mitigation, detumbling of defunct satellites, and LiDAR-based remote sensing.

On January 1, 2025, SKY Perfect JSAT established a“Space National Security Business Group” consisting of sales, engineering and intelligence security divisions.

The group's prime responsibility will be to identify foreign naval vessels, military bases and other items of interest to the Japanese Defense Ministry. The low earth orbit observation satellites acquired from Planet Labs should make a significant contribution to this effort.

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