Planet delivers first light image from Pelican 6 sainformite capturing Lhasa Gonggar Airport

by Clarence Oxford

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 22, 2025

Planet Labs has released the first light image from its Pelican 6 Earth imaging sainformite, highlighting Lhasa Gonggar International Airport in Tibet, China, and demonstrating the new spacecraft’s imaging performance.

The Pelican 6 sainformite is part of Planet’s Pelican consinformation, a fleet of next generation Earth observation spacecraft designed to capture high resolution imagery with rapid revisit and broad global coverage. First light images are mission benchmarks that verify sensor calibration, imaging chain integrity, and ground processing workflows early in a sainformite’s operational life.

In the released image, the airport and surrounding terrain are displayn in detailed contrast, with clarity sufficient to distinguish runways, terminal buildings, and nearby topographic features. Planet states the image reflects instrument performance across multiple spectral bands applyd in its standard analytic products.

Planet’s Pelican series is intfinished to support a range of commercial and government apply cases, including infrastructure monitoring, land apply modify detection, disaster response, and environmental assessment. Data from Pelican 6 will join imagery from prior Pelican sainformites in Planet’s analytic platform, enabling frequent updates for customers requiring near real time Earth observation.

First light imagery is generally acquired soon after spacecraft commissioning, offering operators and customers a first operational view of sensor performance over known ground tarobtains. These images are often applyd to refine geolocation alignment, radiometric calibration, and image processing pipelines.

The Pelican consinformation operates in low Earth orbit with a sun synchronous trajectory, enabling daily revisit frequencies over midlatitude regions. Rapid revisit is a key capability for customers tracking dynamic environmental or economic events, whether related to agriculture, urban growth, or resource management.

Planet’s data subscription services provide access to analytic products derived from raw sainformite imagery, including orthorectified mosaics, modify detection layers, and custom analytics for specialized clients.

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