Planet Labs Federal, a subsidiary of Planet Labs, has secured a contract renewal worth $7.5m with the US Navy to provide vessel detection and monitoring services across the Pacific Ocean.

The renewed agreement continues the use of Planet’s PlanetScope and SkySat satellite data within SeaVision, a maritime situational awareness platform managed by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and co-developed with the US Navy.

The integration gives the US Navy access to daily global scans and high-resolution imagery, supporting near real-time monitoring of vessel activity over extensive maritime zones.

The project also involves AI analytics from SynMax, a technology partner of Planet Labs, that supplies vessel detection capabilities and related analytics to enhance monitoring.

SynMax’s Theia technology, included in the service, uses AI to improve the identification of vessels that do not broadcast their location through the Automatic Identification System (AIS).

This enables detection of activities such as possible smuggling, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and unauthorised ship-to-ship transfers. The resulting data can be easily shared among SeaVision users, providing a common operational overview in the Pacific region.

Planet Federal global defence and intelligence vice president Jon Powers said: “The Indo-Pacific is one of the busiest and most strategically important regions in the world; a hub of global trade with vast waters and dense vessel activity.

“Understanding the maritime environment remains as critical as ever, and demands persistent, broad area coverage. Planet is proud to continue delivering this unique capability, supporting the US Navy and regional partners with imagery-based insights to foster stability and prosperity across the region.”