Planet Labs’ Berlin factory makes European space autonomy a production question

Planet Labs has opened its first factory outside California in Berlin. The facility can produce as many as 60 Pelican high-resolution optical satellites a year, roughly doubling the company’s global annual output. Chief executive Will Marshall described the investment as an eight-figure sum in euros.

The company began with climate observation; defense now supplies about 60% of its business. Planet already operates roughly 200 satellites and sells both imagery services and satellites that customers can own and operate. Germany funds a Planet service for Ukraine, which the company says contributes to early warning against Russian threats.

The location reflects a political demand as much as an industrial one. Germany plans to spend €35 billion by 2030 on satellite communications and observation. European dependence became tangible when the Trump administration briefly blocked Ukraine’s access to imagery from Maxar, now Vantor, and after Elon Musk restricted Starlink use during a Ukrainian operation near Crimea.

A Berlin production line does not make Planet a European-controlled company, but it gives German customers local manufacturing, a larger supplier base and a route to owning complete systems. Planet also hopes to join Spock 2, Germany’s planned military orbital-reconnaissance network. The next test is procurement: whether Berlin turns the new factory’s capacity into a durable sovereign constellation rather than another externally controlled service contract.