Satellogic launches first satellite in its Merlin remapping constellation
Satellogic launched Merlin.01, the first satellite in its planned 1-meter daily-remapping constellation, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18.
what happened
Satellogic said Oct. 2 that it successfully launched Merlin.01 along with two NewSat Mark VI satellites and one NewSat Mark V satellite on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare from Vandenberg on Oct. 1. Merlin.01 carries a 10-band, Sentinel-aligned payload with 1-meter-class imagery and a 170-kilometer swath, and is designed to use onboard AI processing and inter-satellite links to cue the NewSat Mark VI satellites for 50-centimeter follow-up imagery. The satellite is in its Launch and Early Orbit Phase, with commissioning set to begin in mid-October and the Merlin constellation targeting full operational capacity in the second half of 2027.
why it matters
Merlin is the constellation Satellogic has already sold exclusive maritime-intelligence access to SynMax; its first satellite reaching orbit moves the company's pitch of daily, theater-scale monitoring from a funded plan toward a flying product, a milestone EO buyers evaluating Satellogic's roadmap against Planet's and BlackSky's will track.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Satellogic
- Category
- constellation
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 5 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-01
- Published
- 2026-10-02 13:33 UTC