BERLIN — U.S.-based Earth observation company Planet Labs has opened a new 5,700-square-meter satellite manufacturing facility in Berlin’s Mitte district. The facility, operated by Planet Labs GmbH, will produce the company’s Pelican satellites and expand its manufacturing capacity in Europe.
Production is scheduled to begin this autumn, with the first satellite expected to be completed before the end of 2026. The plant is designed to eventually produce up to 60 satellites per year, roughly doubling Planet’s overall Pelican production capacity. Manufacturing will continue at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Pelican satellites are in the 300-kilogram class and are designed for high-resolution Earth observation, with the next-generation spacecraft offering approximately 30-centimeter resolution.
Planet announced the Berlin facility in September 2025. The company has completed the facility handover and cleanroom fit-out within 12 months. The expansion will add about 70 employees to Planet’s existing workforce of nearly 150 people in Berlin.
Planet has operated in Germany since 2015, following its acquisition of German Earth observation company RapidEye. Berlin already serves as the company’s European center for engineering, mission operations, data processing and business functions.
Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall said the company has built and successfully launched 688 satellites over 15 years, and that the new facility brings its satellite manufacturing capability to Berlin.
The first satellites produced at the Berlin facility are scheduled to launch in early 2027 aboard an Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket from the Andøya Space complex in Norway. The planned mission would be the first time a German-built Pelican satellite is launched on a German-built launch vehicle.
The Berlin facility is part of Planet’s expansion of localized satellite production in Europe and supports the company’s growing Earth observation operations in the region.
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