{"title":"iQPS vs Planet Labs: Earth observation compared","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/compare/iqps-vs-planet-labs","comparison":"Planet Labs ranks 17 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; iQPS ranks 47 with 75. iQPS is ahead on deployment and leverage. Planet Labs is ahead on production, commercials, progress, technology and firepower. Level on positioning. iQPS is based in Fukuoka, Japan, Planet Labs in San Francisco, United States. iQPS: Public. Planet Labs: Public, founded 2010. iQPS is named in 32 signals and Planet Labs in 32.","companies":[{"name":"iQPS","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/iqps","city":"Fukuoka","country":"Japan","stage":"Public","founded":null,"last_round":null,"positioning":"iQPS is a Japanese SAR operator (TSE-listed) running the QPS-SAR constellation (8+ satellites under JSAT operations contracts, QPS-SAR-15 first-light images in January 2026), which raised a JPY 15.2B PIPE in March 2026 (SKY Perfect JSAT, Mitsui Sumitomo taking 18.23%) for mass production and launches. It is a member of the winning Japanese MoD Satellite Constellation Project consortium (December 2025), the sovereign-SAR national team, carrying the same MoD-dependency flag as Synspective. Revenue is estimated at 10-100m class.","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":47,"score":75,"tier":"member","scores":{"gate_ne":["firepower"],"leverage":8,"position":8,"progress":9,"firepower":8,"commercial":4,"deployment":9,"production":6,"technology":6},"why":"iQPS operates the QPS-SAR constellation of small radar satellites, providing day-and-night Earth observation imagery with little sensitivity to cloud cover.","segment":"Earth observation","layer":"Satellites & spacecraft"},"signals_total":32,"facts_total":39},{"name":"Planet Labs","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/planet-labs","city":"San Francisco","country":"United States","stage":"Public","founded":2010,"last_round":null,"positioning":"Planet Labs is a US Earth-observation operator (~200 satellites launched) whose Pelican (high-res) and Tanager (hyperspectral) constellations are ramping, with FY26 revenue of $307.7M (+26%), its first full year of adjusted-EBITDA profitability and free cash flow, and FY27 guidance raised to $425-441M. Its growth engine is defense and intelligence (up 50% YoY, including a nine-figure Swedish Armed Forces deal and NATO extensions) on a backlog up 79% to ~$900M, though declining commercial agriculture and ~41% APAC concentration are mix risks. It has Google and NVIDIA partnerships and claims 98% recurring ACV.","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":17,"score":82,"tier":"member","scores":{"leverage":6,"position":8,"progress":10,"firepower":9,"commercial":8,"deployment":8,"production":8,"technology":8},"why":"Planet operates Earth-observation satellite constellations, including SkySat, Pelican and Flock imaging satellites, and sells the resulting imagery and data.","segment":"Earth observation","layer":"Satellites & spacecraft"},"signals_total":32,"facts_total":56}],"note":"Assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence; facts and signals carry their sources."}