About the role

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

Internships at Planet:

Planet’s Summer 2026 internships are full-time, paid 12-week positions located in our San Francisco HQ Office.

Program Dates:

June 1 - August 21
June 22 - September 11

About the Role:

Planet’s Mission Control is a web-based application that empowers spacecraft operators and analysts to monitor, control, and study our growing fleet of satellites. It is flanked by a number of distributed microservices that handle spacecraft scheduling, tasking, telemetry processing, and similar operational needs. Together, these services automate much of the day-to-day operations of Planet's fleet of satellites.

You’ll be a part of a team that builds, maintains, and operates these tools. Our mission is to offer a seamless interface that enables spacecraft operators, analysts, and engineers at Planet to interact effortlessly with our assets in space. We strive to minimize operational burden, and to automate all aspects of satellite operations. You will be a part of a team that will support, enable and engage with the end users to iterate on these systems. In this role, you will tackle and solve a broad array of engineering problems in a fast-paced environment.

This is a full-time, in-office position based in our San Francisco office 5 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

Maintain and augment the automation and services ultimately responsible for the operation of Planet’s satellites. This includes but is not limited to:

Specify and implement new HTTP APIs and help improve existing ones.
Evaluate and choose appropriate software technologies.
Design and deploy critical infrastructure.

Contribute to a team that values open and honest communication, collaboration, self-learning and initiative to solve problems big and small.
Work closely with various teams across Planet, ranging from Satellite and Ground Operations, to Pipeline and Product teams to ensure the satellite constellation meets the needs to achieve Planet’s missions.

What You Bring:

Pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or similar.
Experience in Python programming.
Attention to quality including automated testing, code review, and documentation.
Experience with maintaining peer-reviewed code and continuous integration and deployment workflows and tooling like GitLab CI and Docker or similar.
Proficient Linux skills.
Ability to be a self-starter for solving problems in a dynamic environment.
Ability to clearly communicate and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

What Makes You Stand Out:

Experience building services that leverage cloud-based infrastructure and tooling such as AWS or GCP.
Experience with relational database technologies (e.g., Postgres, MySQL, etc.).

Skills & Tags

python go aws gcp docker ai data product

Aplyr's read

Planet Labs is a leader in Earth imaging, leveraging satellite technology for diverse sectors like agriculture and urban planning, attracting talent in engineering and management.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Planet Labs operates one of the largest satellite fleets, providing high-resolution Earth imagery.
•The company supports diverse applications, from agriculture to urban planning, fostering innovation.
•Recent hiring trends indicate growth in engineering and customer success roles across global offices.

What to watch

•The competitive Earth imaging market poses challenges for differentiation and market share.
•High operational costs in satellite management could impact financial sustainability.
•Dependence on external data partnerships may limit control over service offerings.

Why Planet Labs

•Planet Labs' daily global imagery offers unmatched frequency and coverage.
•The company emphasizes sustainability by providing data for environmental monitoring.
•Its diverse satellite fleet enables tailored solutions for specific industry needs.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

About Planet Labs

Planet Labs

planet.com

View company

Planet Labs is a private Earth imaging company that operates a fleet of satellites to capture high-resolution images of the Earth, providing data for various applications including agriculture, forestry, and urban planning.