88 satellites will launch on Valentine's Day to image the entire Earth every day
On Valentine's Day, instead of chowing down on chocolates, a group of engineers and scientists are going to get pancakes and a rocket launch.
Employees working for Planet -- a California-based startup -- are planning to watch a record 88 of their tiny satellites launch into orbit while eating breakfast.
"This [pancake tradition] originated from the very first launch we had back in 2013," Mike Safyan, Planet's director of launch and regulatory affairs, said in an interview.
"It was an early morning launch and everyone got together and watched the livestream and we decided to eat pancakes and that's just kind of carried over for every single launch we've had so far."
The Valentine's Day launch will be a special one for Planet, and it's not only because it will set a record for the largest clutch of satellites launched at once. (In total, the PSLV rocket carrying them will take 104 satellites to orbit.)
After these 88 satellites -- called Doves by the company -- make it into orbit, they will allow it to image the entire Earth every day. It's a goal Planet has dubbed "Mission One," set back when it was founded in 2010.
This will mark Planet's 15th Dove launch and will give the company a total of 100 of these satellites in orbit.
"We've had a lot of launches under our belts but this is the one that we feel really defines Mission One," Safyan said.
"It's a pretty special feeling to think back [to] all those years ago when we were a scrappy team inside a garage dreaming about this day, and now this day has finally come."
The new capability will allow Planet's customers to get their data more quickly, opening the door to uses that weren't possible before.
For example, organizations hoping to track deforestation could use the daily images taken by these satellites to really track, and maybe even prevent, some of that deforestation.
"If we have an update of an area every six months, you can see change but there's not much you can do about it," Safyan added. "Whereas, if everyday you're getting an alert where trees are going down where they aren't allowed to be harvested or cut down, then you can actually go and send someone and do something about it."
The photos can also be used to keep an eye on crops and create more accurate maps.
Planet has had a big year.
The relatively young company just announced that it's acquiring Terra Bella, Google's satellite arm focused on capturing images of Earth. The acquisition means that Planet will also gain control of Terra Bella's seven SkySat satellites.
As part of the deal, Google will buy data gathered by Planet's fleet of satellites.
Planet also struck a deal that will allow the company to host data from a wealth of other satellites like Landsat-8 and RapidEye.
"We firmly believe that more accessible data can help decision makers take smarter, faster action, and we’re excited to see new and meaningful applications built from this collection of datasets," Planet said in a blog post.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
