CSDA Vendor - Planet
NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program has acquired commercial datasets from Planet for scientific purposes.
Planet Labs PBC (Planet) distributes optical to near-infrared data acquired by the following Planet satellite constellations: PlanetScope, RapidEye, and SkySat.
The PlanetScope constellation of Dove satellites can image Earth’s entire land surface every day with a stated resolution of 3 m/pixel. The Dove constellation instruments consist of multiple generations of sensors with additional bands and expanded swath capabilities added to newer sensors.
RapidEye is a retired constellation of five satellites operational from 2009 to 2020. The constellation captured more than 660,000 images of Earth’s total landmass. RapidEye image resolution is approximately 5 m/pixel.
SkySat platforms can revisit any location on Earth up to 10 times a day, obtaining 50 cm/pixel high-resolution imagery. CSDA has acquired a limited set of SkySat data.
Planet was one of the companies selected for evaluation in the original NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program Pilot.
Authorized Data Use and Users
NASA-purchased Planet data are available to U.S. Federal civil agencies (including the National Science Foundation) and their contractors, subcontractors, and partners.
End User License Agreement
Obtaining Data
Requesting PlanetScope and RapidEye data:
- Contact CSDA and provide a name, email address, and other pertinent information (grant number, contract number, etc.) for data access approval
- Search the CSDA Satellite Data Explorer (SDX) (Note: An Earthdata Login is required for access)
- If desired data is not found, utilize the Data Request Form to initiate a request with the CSDA Data Management Team to acquire the data from Planet
- Review discovered data and download direct from the SDX or using the Bulk Download Tool
Each PlanetScope and RapidEye user will be initially allocated a 5 million km2 quota. PlanetScope data will only be available 30 days after acquisition by the satellite constellation. However, exceptions to both conditions can be made based on additional justifications.
Accessing SkySat data:
- Contact CSDA and provide a name, email address, and other pertinent information (grant number, contract number, etc.) for data access approval
- Search the CSDA Satellite Data Explorer (SDX) (Note: An Earthdata Login is required for access)
- Review discovered data and download direct from the SDX or using the Bulk Download Tool
Approved users have access to all CSDA archived PlanetScope and RapidEye data, and a limited set of SkySat data.
Note that Planet basemap products are not available through the CSDA program.
Copyright
Data products and derivatives must contain the following copyright markings (where YYYY is the year of the image acquisition):
- For data products: “© Planet Labs PBC YYYY. All rights reserved.”
- For derivatives: “Includes copyrighted material of Planet Labs PBC. All rights reserved.”
- A joint copyright notice may be used as appropriate
Authorized users should send Planet a courtesy copy of any publications that include Planet data.
CSDA Acknowledgment
To help CSDA identify your publications, we request that you include the following acknowledgment when publishing work created using these data:
"This work utilized data made available through the NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program."
Evaluation
In addition to the initial evaluation completed during the CSDA Program's Pilot, a geometric evaluation was done and a report and presentation are available, a radiometric evaluation presentation completed in February 2025 and is available for review.
Research and Findings Using Planet Data
Research
Andrew L. Mullen
2023
Findings
Findings are statements showing how these data may be applied and include links to more information about these applications.
PlanetScope data Putting the Red in "Red Tide"
Yao Yao, 2023
Imagery allowed more effective capture of transient biomass burning events
Imagery has the potential to substantially improve quantification of global pyrogenic emissions
Imagery found to be effective for analyzing burned and unburned areas in the boreal region
Found the variance in NDVI is twice as large as the variance in NDVI derived from MODIS
Wheat area estimates found to be 20% more accurate than Landsat estimates
Explained within-field yield variability for corn & soybean in the Midwest US
Planet Commercial Data
PlanetScope/Dove Satellite Constellation and Instrument Characteristics
| Mission Characteristics | International Space Station Orbit |
|---|---|
| Orbit Altitude (reference) | 400 km (51.6° inclination) |
| Max/Min Latitude Coverage | +/- 52° (depending on season) |
| Equator Crossing Time | Variable |
| Sensor Type | Three-band frame Imager or four-band frame Imager with a split-frame NIR filter |
| Spectral Bands | Blue: 455-515 nm Green: 500-590 nm Red: 590-670 nm NIR: 780-860 nm |
| Ground Sample Distance (nadir) | 3.0 m (approximate) |
| Frame Size | 20 km x 12 km (approximate) |
| Maximum Image Strip per Orbit | 8,100 km2 |
| Revisit Time | Variable |
| Image Capture Capacity | Variable |
| Camera Dynamic Range | 12-bit |
PlanetScope/Dove in Sun-Synchronus Orbit
| Mission Characteristics | Dove Classic (PS2) | Dove-R (PS2.SD) | SuperDove (PSB.SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbit Altitude (reference) | 450–580 km | ||
| Inclination | ~98° | ||
| Max/Min Latitude Coverage | ±81.5° (depending on season) | ||
| Equator Crossing Time | 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. (local solar time) | ||
| Sensor Type | Three-band frame Imager or four-band frame Imager with a split-frame NIR filter | Four-band frame imager with butcher-block filter | Eight-band frame imager with butcher-block filter |
| Spectral Bands | Blue: 455–515 nm Green: 500–590 nm Red: 590–670 nm NIR: 780–860 nm | Blue: 464–517 nm Green: 547–585 nm Red: 650–682 nm NIR: 846–888 nm | Coastal Blue: 431–452 nm Blue: 465–515 nm Green I: 513–549 nm Green II: 547–583 nm Yellow: 600–620 nm Red: 650–680 nm Red-Edge: 697–713 nm NIR: 845–885 nm |
| Ground Sample Distance (nadir) | 3.7 m (approximate) | ||
| Frame Size | 24 km x 8 km (approximate) | 24 km x 16 km (approximate) | 32.5 km x 19.6 km (approximate) |
| Maximum Image Strip per Orbit | 20,000 km2 | ||
| Revisit Time | Near-daily at nadir | ||
| Image Capture Capacity | ~350 million km2/day | ||
| Camera Dynamic Range | 12-bit | ||
RapidEye Satellite Constellation and Instrument Characteristics
| Mission Characteristics | Information |
|---|---|
| Number of Satellites | 1 |
| Orbit Altitude | 630 km in Sun-Synchronous Orbit |
| Equator Crossing Time | 11:00 a.m., local solar time (approximate) |
| Sensor Type | Multispectral push broom |
| Spectral Bands | Blue: 440–510 nm Green: 520–590 nm Red: 630–685 nm Red Edge: 690–730 nm NIR: 760–850 nm |
| Ground Sampling Distance (nadir) | 6.5 m |
| Swath Width | 77 km |
| Maximum Image Strip per Orbit | Up to 1,500 km of image data per orbit |
| Revisit Time | Daily (off-nadir)/5.5 days (at nadir) |
| Image Capture Capacity | > 6 million km2/day |
| Camera Dynamic Range | 12-bit |
SkySat Satellite Constellation and Instrument Characteristics
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass | 110 kg |
| Dimensions | 60 x 60 x 95 cm |
| Total DeltaV | 180 m/s |
| Onboard Storage | 360 GB + 360 GB cold spare storage |
| RF Communication | X-band downlink (payload): variable, up to 580 Mbit/s X-band downlink (telemetry): 64 Kbit/s S-band uplink (command): 32 Kbit/s |
| Design Life | ~6 years |
| Geolocation Knowledge | 30 m CE90 in a 500 km altitude orbit |
| Ground Sample Distance | [SkySat-1, SkySat-2] Panchromatic: 0.86 m Multispectral: 10 m [SkySat-3 – SkySat-13] Panchromatic: 0.72 m Multispectral: 1.0 m 2.3 targets (6.6 x 10 km) per minute |
| Revisit (per satellite) | 4-5 days *Reference altitude 500 km |
| Equatorial Crossing Time (UTC) | 10:30: Current C-Gen satellites 13:00: SkySat-1 and SkySat-2 13:00: Block-2 C-Gen satellites |
| Image Configurations | Multispectral Sensor (Blue, Green, Red, NIR) Panchromatic Sensor |
| Product Framing | SkySat Satellites have three cameras per satellite that capture overlapping strips. Each of these strips contains overlapping scenes. One scene is approximately 2560 x 1080 pixels |
| Sensor Type | CMOS Frame Camera with Panchromatic and Multispectral halves |
| Spectral Bands | Blue: 450–515 nm Green: 515–595 nm Red: 605–695 nm NIR: 740–900 nm Pan: 450–900 nm |