Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation is operated by Earth Imaging company Planet Labs. The company currently operates three constellations, SkySat, with 21 satellites, RapidEYE and Doves. The satellites that comprise each constellation have unique spatial, temporal and radiometric resolutions, to capture Earth’s activities from multiple perspectives and dimensions.
The Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation consists of 10x10x30cm Triple-CubeSat miniature satellites (Doves), equipped with a high-powered telescope and camera programmed to capture different portions of Earth. Each Dove satellite, built in-house, continuously scans Earth, sending data once it passes over a ground station, by means of a frame image sensor. The first Doves prototypes were orbited in 2013. In the years that followed Doves were launched in batches (Flocks) using various launch providers and the ISS.
On January 21st, 2018, a Dove Pioneer CubeSat was part of the payload on an Electron launcher operated by Rocket Lab from New Zealand. It was the first orbital-entry craft launched from a privately owned and operated spaceport at the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand.
In August 2021 Planet signed a multi-launch contract with launch operator SpaceX. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is the world’s most reliable and frequently-flown rocket that offers low-cost rideshare services. The first launch under this agreement was Flock-4x, with 44 SuperDoves CubeSats on the Falcon 9 Transporter-3 SSO rideshare mission launched on January 13th 2022.
On January 3rd 2023 the company launched another 36 CubeSats with the Transporter-6 mission on a Falcon 9 rocket operated by SpaceX.
Satellite
Mission
Launch Date
Launcher
Launch Operator
Dove-1
prototype
April 21st, 2013
Antares 110
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Dove-2
prototype
April 19th, 2013
Soyuz-2
GK Launch KZ
Dove-3
Cluster Mission 2013
Nov 21st, 2013
Dnepr-1
ISC Kosmotras
Dove-4
Cluster Mission 2013
Nov 21st, 2013
Dnepr-1
ISC Kosmotras
Dove Pioneer
‘Still-Testing’
Jan 21st, 2018
Electron KS
Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 1 (28 CubeSats)
Orbital-1 /ISS
Jan 9th, 2014
Antares 120
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1b (28 CubeSats)
Orbital-2 /ISS
July 13th, 2014
Antares 120
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1c (11 CubeSats)
Cluster Mission 2014
June 19th, 2014
Dnepr-1
ISC Kosmotras
Flock 1d (26 CubeSats)
destroyed
Oct 24th, 2014
Antares 120
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1e (14 CubeSats)
Cygnus CRS-6/ISS
April 14th, 2015
Falcon 9
SpaceX USA
Flock 1f (8 CubeSats)
destroyed
June 28th, 2015
Falcon 9
SpaceX USA
Flock 2b (14 CubeSats)
Aug 24th, 2015
H-IIB
MHI Launch Japan
Flock 2e (12 CubeSats)
Cygnus CRS-4/ISS
Dec 6th, 2015
Antares
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 2e’ (20 CubeSats)
Cygnus CRS-6/ISS
Mar 23rd, 2016
Antares
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 2k (48 CubeSats)
July 14th 2017
Soyuz-2
GK Launch KZ
Flock 2p (12 CubeSats)
CartoSat-2
June 22nd, 2016
PSLV-C34
ISRO India
Flock 3k (12 CubeSats)
Dec 27th, 2018
Soyuz-2
GK Launch KZ
Flock 3m (4 CubeSats)
Oct 31st, 2017
Minotaur-C
Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 3p (88 CubeSats)
CartoSat-2
Feb 15th, 2017
PSLV-C37
ISRO India
Flock 3p’ (4 CubeSats)
CartoSat-2
Jan 12th, 2018
PSLV-C40
ISRO India
Flock 3r (16 CubeSats)
HysIS
Nov 29th, 2018
PSLV-C43
ISRO India
Flock 3s (3 CubeSats)
SSO-A Smallsat Express
Dec 3rd, 2018
Falcon 9
SpaceX USA
Flock 4a (20 CubeSats)
EMISat
April 1st, 2019
PSLV-C45
ISRO India
Flock 4e (9 CubeSats)
‘Pics-or-it-didn’t-Happen’
July 4th, 2020
Electron
Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 4e’ (9 CubeSats)
‘In-Focus’
Oct 28th, 2020
Electron
Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 4p (20 CubeSats)
CartoSat-3
Nov 27th, 2019
PSLV-C47
ISRO India
Flock 4s (48 CubeSats)
Transporter-1/ISS
Jan 24th, 2021
Falcon 9
SpaceX USA
Flock 4v (26 CubeSats)
VV16
Sept 3rd, 2020
Vega
Arianespace FG
Flock 4x (44 CubeSats)
CRS-24/ISS
Dec 21st, 2021
Falcon 9
SpaceX USA
Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation
ISRO PSLV launching Dove satellites
Soyuz-2 launching Planet CubeSats
Cygnus cargo arrives at ISS
Dove satellite in orbit
Earth Imaging; Antarctica
Earth Imaging; Dukono Vulcano in Indonesia
Earth Imaging; Louisiana USA
Earth Imaging; Tidal swamp ecosystem Endyalgout Island, Australia
Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation
