SAN FRANCISCO — Earth observation company Planet Labs PBC has entered into a multi-launch agreement with launch vehicle developer Stoke Space to deploy optical imaging satellites aboard its reusable rocket fleet, the companies announced on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026.
The contract covers orbital delivery services across both Stoke’s Nova Pathfinder and larger Nova Block 2 launch vehicles, establishing dedicated manifest slots as Planet diversifies its commercial launch architecture.
Rideshare Transition and Provider Diversification Strategy
The agreement establishes dedicated launch capacity for Planet as the broader commercial rideshare market undergoes structural realignment. Planet has historically relied on SpaceX smallsat rideshares to deploy its imaging fleets, including its recent deployment of the Pelican-12 satellite aboard SpaceX Bandwagon-5. With SpaceX concluding dedicated Falcon 9 commercial rideshares and winding down commercial booster sales, Planet is assembling a multi-provider manifest to preserve regular constellation replenishment cadences across low Earth orbit without depending on a single launch architecture.
Nova Pathfinder and Nova Block 2 Payload Capabilities
Under the undisclosed multi-launch terms, Stoke Space will manifest Planet satellites across two successive rocket variants engineered for full reusability. The initial flights will utilize the Nova Pathfinder, a three-ton-to-orbit vehicle scheduled to conduct its inaugural orbital flight next year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Subsequent launches will transition to the heavy-lift Nova Block 2 vehicle, which scales orbital lift capacity to 15 metric tons to support higher-volume constellation replenishment. The Block 2 rocket is supported by dedicated ground infrastructure financed under a Pentagon conditional loan commitment to Stoke Space to construct a second orbital launch pad in Florida.
Flight Cadence and Staged Deployment Timeline
The multi-year launch campaign follows a phased development timeline as Stoke Space advances hardware through static fire qualification and pad activation. Initial constellation deployments aboard Nova Pathfinder are slated for 2027, followed by expanded multi-satellite missions on Nova Block 2 when the heavy-lift booster debuts in 2029.
