Well-curated data is what really matters
Planet already has an amazing archive of Earth imagery. That’s a huge advantage.
But images alone aren’t enough.
At some point, the model needs to understand what it’s actually looking at.
Not just “this is an image.”
But “this is a new solar farm.”
“This port expanded.”
“These fields are showing signs of drought.”
“This area was damaged by flooding.”
That kind of understanding doesn’t come from satellites alone.
It comes from domain knowledge.
Agriculture, Logistics, Mining, Forestry, Insurance, Disaster response or etc.
Maybe Planet doesn’t need to hire experts in every field. Partnering with organizations that already have that knowledge might make more sense.
If LEM is going to become something truly valuable, I think this is an important piece of the puzzle.