The real opportunity in space business is data, not tourism

The most important news in space business aren’t Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos’ suborbital joy rides. It’s the decision by Planet, the satellite data company, to go public after being bought by a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), DMY Technology Group.

Planet is the most mature space company to come to market—it had more than $114 million in revenue last year, which is more than comparable new space businesses that went public through SPACs: Virgin Galactic, a suborbital tourism company, earned $238,000; Spire, another satellite imaging firm, earned $29 million; and Rocket Lab, the launch vehicle maker, earned about $35 million.

It’s also doing the most to mainstream space business, paying careful attention to customers outside of the aerospace sector. It’s been two years since the company began reframing itself as a “data” company, not a satellite operator, concerned that the public was too focused on its achievement of launching hundreds of low-cost PlanetScope satellites that capture images of the earth’s entire landmass every day. The company also operates larger satellites for higher-resolution imagery.

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