Other Optical Operators: Satellogic, Airbus, EarthDaily and the Field
Who else sells optical imagery, and what strategies are they using against falling prices?
Chapter summary
Beyond Vantor, Planet and BlackSky, the optical field includes Airbus (Pléiades Neo at 30 cm and SPOT), Satellogic (about 70 cm at the lowest list prices in the market, $4 per square kilometre for archive), EarthDaily (a new medium-resolution constellation designed for consistent, calibrated time series), Chinese operators led by Chang Guang, and national champions.
Key takeaways
- 1
Strategies divide into four: lowest price for volume (Satellogic), highest quality and calibration for analytics (EarthDaily), defence-grade very high resolution (Airbus, Vantor), and selling satellites or capacity to governments (Satellogic, Planet, BlackSky).
- 2
Satellogic reported revenue of $15.9 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 259%, and its first positive operating income.
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