HEO taps Planet's SkySat fleet to spy on space objects from orbit

HEO, the Australian company known for using Earth observation satellites to photograph other spacecraft, has signed a partnership with Planet to access the latter's high-resolution SkySat constellation for non-Earth imaging (NEI). The deal was announced on August 17, with financial terms undisclosed.

Under the agreement, HEO will be able to task SkySat satellites to capture images of other space objects when the satellites are not busy with Earth observation. Initially, the NEI imagery from SkySat will be available exclusively to HEO's U.S. government clients.

"Planet has heard increasing calls for the need to detect and characterize potentially nefarious activity in space, from space, and by integrating our high-resolution SkySat constellation with HEO's analytic expertise, we are bringing rapid, scalable on-orbit imaging capacity to our customers," said Jon Powers, general manager of Planet Federal, in a statement.

With the addition of SkySat, HEO now has access to more than 50 sensors in orbit, most of them provided by other Earth observation companies. Will Crowe, CEO of HEO, explained in an interview that the NEI mission does not require large, expensive satellites. "You just need to have cameras in the right place at the right time," he said. Crowe emphasized that the approach relies on "a diversity of sensors and a diversity of orbits," which increases the likelihood of having a camera positioned to capture a target at the right moment. The partnership aims to provide rapid, scalable on-orbit imaging capacity to detect and characterize potentially dangerous activity in space, addressing growing demand from government and commercial customers.