Intern, Edge Compute

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth. Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one. Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles. As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains. We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world. Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands. Internships at Planet: Planet’s Summer 2026 internships are full-time, paid 12-week positions located in our San Francisco HQ Office. Program Dates: June 1 - August 21 June 22 - September 11 About the Role: Planet's mission is to image the entire world every day, making global change visible, accessible, and actionable. We've successfully captured daily imagery of the Earth, and now we're taking the next bold step: making our spacecraft smarter and more efficient using AI and machine learning. We are seeking a talented AI/ML Intern with an emphasis on geospatial analytics and remote sensing to join our Edge Compute team. This is a high-impact role for an ambitious undergraduate or graduate student to work at the intersection of orbital mechanics, computer vision, and hardware-constrained systems. You will help build the algorithms of our next-generation satellites, moving beyond simple image capture to autonomous vision systems that can detect events and react to dynamic Earth conditions in real-time. The ideal candidate is passionate about AI/ML, autonomy, and squeezing performance out of neural networks to run them in the harsh, resource-constrained environment of space. This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to be in our San Francisco, HQ 3 days per week. Impact You'll Own: Design and train computer vision models (object detection, segmentation, change detection) specifically optimized for satellite imagery and edge deployment. Experiment with model compression techniques—including quantization, pruning, and knowledge distillation—to ensure high-performance inference on low-power hardware. Explore algorithms that allow satellites to autonomously identify high-value targets (e.g., ships, wildfires, or cloud-free regions) to optimize tasking and downlink. Profile and validate model performance (latency, power consumption, memory footprint) on edge hardware targets like NVIDIA Jetson or similar accelerators. Assist in the curation and augmentation of "space-ready" datasets, accounting for unique orbital challenges like varying off-nadir angles and atmospheric noise. Build end-to-end prototypes that demonstrate autonomous "closed-loop" systems where ML outputs directly influence satellite actions. Partner with flight software engineers to transition research prototypes into robust, production-ready code for orbital environments. Analyze model performance and limitations in resource-constrained environments to propose iterative architectural improvements. What You Bring: Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. A solid understanding of deep learning fundamentals, particularly in Comput ... (truncated, view full listing at source)