The BEETLESS team had the opportunity to visit the office of Planet Labs, a company that has revolutionised the satellite monitoring industry and currently has about 200 remote sensing satellites. At the beginning of its journey, the company started with a prototype satellite built in a garage using common commercial components. Today, Planet Labs is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a fleet of satellites that cover the entire globe several times a day, providing up-to-date data for numerous industries.
Planet Labs pays special attention to agriculture: their technologies allow agricultural holdings around the world to monitor large areas of land in real time to increase productivity and optimise processes. The company entered the Ukrainian market back in 2017, and today its data also supports the security of Ukraine's borders, helping defenders make important decisions.
The meeting discussed the potential of satellite monitoring to track the activities of the “shadow fleet”. Publicly available satellite data is proving to be effective, as in Brazil, where illegal deforestation of tropical forests has decreased by 40% over the past year thanks to real-time satellite monitoring.
It is important to use open data to create new projects, in particular to support businesses, farmers, and other industries that can significantly increase their efficiency and expand their capabilities thanks to modern technologies.
BEETLESS is grateful to USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) and Ukrainian Startup Fund for organising the visit and the opportunity to join the global technological transformation.
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