HERNDON, Va.- BlackSky’s (NYSE: BKSY) high-resolution small satellite constellation has the highest revisit rate in the world, with a peak of 15 hourly visits per day over certain locations. The real-time geospatial intelligence company achieved a 12 small satellite constellation, doubling its imaging capacity, following Wednesday’s successful Rocket Lab mission.
In less than 30 days the company launched six satellites on three different missions using two launch providers across two continents. Following each respective mission, the satellites achieved first light within hours after launch and were successfully commissioned into operations within 48 hours.
“This is an incredible achievement for BlackSky and the industry. Our ability to rapidly launch, deploy, and commission on-orbit capacity provides customers with confidence that they will have access to the insights they need to support critical operations,” said Brian E. O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “At a time when many suppliers are facing the challenges of an aging constellation, BlackSky is bringing significant capacity into the market.”
The recently commissioned satellites provided imagery that was processed through the company’s Spectra AI platform, delivering AI-enabled insights to customers within hours.
BlackSky’s Spectra AI platform serves as a tasking and analytics engine that fuses multiple data sources of information with its geospatial imagery from the company’s proprietary constellation. Through a subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, Spectra AI delivers real-time geospatial intelligence products to customers with no humans in the loop.
Completing the 12-satellite constellation follows a year of high-paced execution that included raising $283 million during its IPO in September, a multi-year investment partnership with Palantir, and capturing several U.S. Government contracts.
“With our baseline constellation in place supplying images to a fully operational, AI-enabled SaaS platform we are now ready to scale up services to meet strong commercial and government market demand,” said O’Toole. “We are now entering a new era of commercial space and BlackSky is at the forefront of changing the way we see and understand our world.”
About BlackSky Technology Inc.
BlackSky is a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence. Leveraging its own satellite constellation and harnessing the world’s emerging sensor network, the Company monitors the activities and locations worldwide that matter most to its customers. BlackSky’s on-demand constellation of proprietary satellites, together with the sensors in its partners’ constellations, are capable of imaging targeted locations on Earth multiple times a day in a variety of conditions. The data collected from BlackSky’s satellites and other sources populates BlackSky’s proprietary data lake and platform. Cutting-edge computer techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, allow BlackSky’s customers to derive unique and commercially valuable insights, providing them with a first-to-know advantage. BlackSky’s suite of real-time geospatial intelligence products can be integrated into a customer’s system or made available through BlackSky’s Spectra platform using a laptop and internet connection. The Company’s variety of pricing and utilization options enables customers to customize their first-to-know experience. For more information, visit www.blacksky.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to BlackSky. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this document, including but not limited to: (i) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, (ii) achieve anticipated revisit rates and maintain current launch schedules, and (iii) our ability to predict and respond to customer trends. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and is based on information available as of the date of this communication, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. If any of these risks materialize or underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that we do not presently know, or that we currently believe are immaterial, that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect our expectations, plans, or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause their assessments to change. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in reports filed with the SEC, including within the section titled “Risk Factors” on BlackSky’s registration statement on Form S-1, and available at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.