Planet Labs vs Umbra: Earth observation compared

November 2026 edition · assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence

Planet Labs ranks 17 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Umbra ranks 63 with 70. Planet Labs is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress and firepower. Level on technology, positioning and leverage. Planet Labs is based in San Francisco, United States, Umbra in Santa Barbara, United States. Planet Labs: Public, founded 2010. Planet Labs is named in 32 signals and Umbra in 23.

Planet Labs →

San Francisco, California, United States · Space · Satellites & spacecraft / Earth observation · Public · founded 2010 · www.planet.com

Planet operates Earth-observation satellite constellations, including SkySat, Pelican and Flock imaging satellites, and sells the resulting imagery and data.

Space 100 · rank 17 · score 82

Scores, Space (of 10)

Deployment8
Production8
Commercials8
Progress10
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower9
Leverage6

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

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.

Latest signals

  • Planet Labs indefinitely withheld satellite imagery of Iran and the surrounding conflict zone.Via Satellite
  • Google sent a Tensor Processing Unit into orbit to test space-based AI compute.The AI Insider
  • Planet Labs opened a satellite factory in Berlin, Germany.Space24

32 signals name Planet Labs.

Facts, with sources

  • Integration of SkySat imagery into HEO’s non-Earth imaging network, expanding the network to more than 50 in-space sensorsPayload
  • HEO partnership expanding its non-Earth imaging network to more than 50 in-space sensorsPayload
  • HEO and Planet Labs partnered to expand HEO’s non-Earth imaging network to more than 50 in-space sensorsPayload

56 facts on file.

Umbra →

Santa Barbara, California, United States · Space · Satellites & spacecraft / Earth observation · umbra.space

Umbra builds and operates radar-imaging satellites and sells high-resolution commercial SAR imagery for Earth observation customers.

Space 100 · rank 63 · score 70

Scores, Space (of 10)

Deployment6
Production6
Commercials6
Progress9
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower6
Leverage6

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

Positioning

Umbra is a US SAR operator with 12+ satellites launched (Umbra-12 in January 2026) at 16cm resolution, the highest commercially available, built at low single-digit-millions cost (the cheapest per performance in the field), plus a satellite-sales line building SAR sats for customers. It holds an NRO triple-anchor: an operational Radar Commercial Augmentation contract (August 2026, one of only three survivors of the five-company CRC evaluation), SCE Stage III, and an RF-products award. Revenue is estimated at 10-100m from NRO and commercial streams.

Latest signals

  • Umbra appoints Ashley Durmer as Chief Operating OfficerVia Satellite
  • NOAA awarded a commercial satellite data contract to 14 companies.SpaceNews
  • NRO is expanding commercial synthetic-aperture radar partnerships for space-based intelligence collection.Umbra

23 signals name Umbra.

Facts, with sources

  • NOAA awarded a commercial satellite data contract to 14 companiesSpaceNews
  • NRO is expanding commercial synthetic-aperture radar partnerships for space-based intelligence collectionUmbra
  • NRO expands commercial SAR partnerships for operational intelligence collectionUmbra

28 facts on file.

More comparisons

Questions this page answers

Planet Labs or Umbra: which is ahead in space?

Planet Labs ranks 17 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Umbra ranks 63 with 70. Planet Labs is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress and firepower. Level on technology, positioning and leverage. Planet Labs is based in San Francisco, United States, Umbra in Santa Barbara, United States. Planet Labs: Public, founded 2010. Planet Labs is named in 32 signals and Umbra in 23.

How do Planet Labs and Umbra compare?

Planet Labs ranks 17 on the Space 100 with a score of 82; Umbra ranks 63 with 70. Planet Labs is ahead on deployment, production, commercials, progress and firepower. Level on technology, positioning and leverage. Planet Labs is based in San Francisco, United States, Umbra in Santa Barbara, United States. Planet Labs: Public, founded 2010. Planet Labs is named in 32 signals and Umbra in 23. Both company files carry the scores on eight measures, the facts with sources and the latest signals.

Every comparison here comes from the same files members use every day.

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