Satellogic Announces Successful Launch of First Merlin Satellite
Key Highlights
- ➤Successful launch delivers Satellogic’s (SATL) first Merlin.01 into low-Earth orbit
- ➤Four satellites launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 on October 1st
- ➤Merlin.01 payload testing and commissioning begin after LEOP, in mid-October 2026
- ➤Merlin full operational capacity remains targeted for H2 2027
Expert Statements
Alan Kharsansky, Chief Technology Officer of Satellogic
“Merlin is designed to process every pixel with AI directly onboard, then use inter-satellite links to direct NewSat VIs to capture what it finds in higher resolution”
Emiliano Kargieman, Chief Executive Officer of Satellogic
“This is the start of a new chapter for Satellogic”
NEW YORK, Oct. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Satellogic Inc. (“Satellogic”) (NASDAQ: SATL), the infrastructure company for Persistent Global Intelligence (PGI), today announced the successful satellite launch of its first Merlin.01, two NewSat Mark VIs, and one NewSat Mark V. The satellites were delivered into sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on October 1st. They have made contact with Satellogic’s ground station network with good health reports for all subsystems.
Merlin.01 is the first satellite in Satellogic's Merlin constellation, designed to provide a global detection layer for theater-scale monitoring. Merlin satellites carry 10-band payloads aligned with Sentinel, with 1m-class imagery and an effective swath of 170 km, making the constellation capable of remapping the Earth daily. Merlin is also designed with onboard AI processing to deliver alerts within 30 minutes.
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