BlackSky Technology, a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence, announced on 1 October that it had secured a $6m contract expansion with an undisclosed international defence sector customer.
This brings the customer’s total annual commitment with BlackSky to nearly $18m.
Imagery from BlackSky’s constellation of satellites, each aligned in a prograde orbit around the Earth’s equator, has unveiled a number of startling strategic and operational developments with geopolitical implications, including the expansion of China’s secret naval port in Cambodia, the conduct of CSTO military assets in CBRN exercises in Belarus, and patterns of military air traffic within the conflict in Sudan.
BlackSky owns and operates a low-earth orbit satellite constellation designed for cost-efficient image capture. The company serves a range of international government agencies and commercial enterprises, providing critical insights and analytics through its Spectra AI software platform.
The expanded contract announced this week provides the unnamed customer with continued access to BlackSky’s Gen-2 satellite technology. This technology delivers high-cadence, low-latency imagery essential for monitoring the security of economic and critical national infrastructure.
The news comes as BlackSky prepares to launch its next-generation Gen-3 satellite technology. The new system promises to deliver ultra-high-resolution 35 cm imagery and sub-hourly revisits, closing the gap between spatial and temporal resolution. Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky, noted that many of the company’s current customers will likely to adopt these advanced capabilities when they become available.
BlackSky’s services are frequently used for the surveillance of sensitive sites such as border crossings, nuclear facilities, and ports. The real-time data supplied is increasingly critical for national security, and the company’s software-driven approach allows customers to integrate satellite imagery into active workflows. O’Toole described the contract renewal as evidence that the company’s services meet the high demands of defence and intelligence customers.
“We have established a new era of real-time monitoring where our current Gen-2 rapid-revisit capabilities add a level of reliable persistence and transparency over critical areas of interest,” said O’Toole, emphasising the company’s role as a key player in space-based intelligence.
