Planet Labs (PL) said Tuesday it has deployed its Pelican-11 technology demonstration satellite into orbit to test hardware for its next-generation fleet.

The spacecraft reached space aboard a SpaceCX (SPCX) rocket launched from California, and operators have established initial communications to begin system checks, the company said.

The pathfinder device will evaluate new systems intended for future models designed to capture higher-resolution, pictures, the company said.

This specific unit will serve strictly as an engineering test and is not expected to gather useable data for commercial sale, Planet Labs said.