Satellogic launches first Merlin satellite for daily one-metre global remapping

Satellogic launched Merlin.01, the first satellite of its Merlin constellation, on 1 October 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Two NewSat Mark VI satellites and one NewSat Mark V flew with it into sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit. All four have contacted the company's ground stations and report healthy subsystems.

Merlin satellites carry 10-band payloads aligned with Sentinel bands, 1 m-class imagery and a 170 km effective swath, enough to remap the Earth daily. Onboard AI is designed to raise alerts within 30 minutes, and inter-satellite links let Merlin cue NewSat Mark VI satellites for 50 cm follow-up imaging without routing through a ground station.

Payload testing and commissioning were due to begin in mid-October 2026. Satellogic says the constellation is on track for full operational capacity in the second half of 2027. In a later investor presentation it described a plan for about eight Merlin satellites, funded by a customer contract.

Why it matters: Daily one-metre coverage with onboard change detection could move monitoring from ordering single images to subscribing to alerts. Analysts of land use, infrastructure and natural resources would see the biggest shift, though commissioning results are still pending.