Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) shares surged more than 15% after it announced the launch of its first hyperspectral satellite Tanager-1 and 36 SuperDoves (Flock 4BE) on Space’x Transporter-11 Rideshare mission on Friday.
The launch will be from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with the launch window opening at 11.20am Pacific Time.
Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) highlighted that Tanager-1 will expand its capabilities by adding more than 400 spectral bands of data, including phenomena that cannot be seen with the human eye.
The 36 SuperDoves (Flock 4BE) will contribute to Planet’s flagship daily, global monitoring mission, which hundreds of customers use in defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial markets.
Analysts at Wedbush see the launch as “another big step forward” for Planet Labs.
“We believe this is a step in the right direction as it launches its highly-anticipated Tanager-1 as more use cases for solar data applications arise,” they wrote in a note to clients.
“The path in the Planet Labs growth story has been bumpy [but] the company finds itself at the center of multiple market-changing transformations that will open up opportunities in the pipeline to generate durable growth for government and commercial markets.”
The analysts repeated their ‘Outperform’ on Planet Labs and a $5 price target.
“As more use cases for solar data applications arise, Planet Labs continues to position itself to capitalize on its current market opportunity while increasingly focusing on building partnerships to accelerate the growth of the ecosystem of customers and users,” they wrote.
Shares of Planet Labs had added 13.4% at $2.46 in the early afternoon on Friday.