BlackSky Technology announced that it has secured a seven-year contract exceeding $100 million with an undisclosed international defense sector customer for real-time, space-based monitoring capabilities. Under the agreement, BlackSky will provide a minimum annual capacity for high-resolution, low-latency imagery, encompassing current Gen-2 and future Gen-3 products, and artificial intelligence-powered analytics services.
According to BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole, the contract offers the undisclosed customer priority, long-term access and the flexibility to incorporate emerging Gen-3 features, including the use of 35 cm imagery and sub-hourly revisit and delivery timelines. O’Toole emphasized the contract’s validation of market demand for BlackSky’s capabilities, saying, “Our customers rely on BlackSky as a trusted partner, delivering real-time decision quality data at mission speed.”
Based in Herndon, Virginia, BlackSky supports a global customer base, providing thousands of images and analytics monthly on areas such as border crossings and critical infrastructure through its high-cadence Gen-2 constellation, ground communications segment and proprietary Spectra analytics platform.
BlackSky recently shipped its first Gen-3 satellite to Rocket Lab for a planned February launch from New Zealand. The satellite will be part of a new-generation constellation that will provide enhanced mission-critical insights with very high-resolution imagery and increased capacity for applications such as automated detection. According to O’Toole, the Gen-3 program addresses strong global demand and more launches are planned throughout the year as satellite production continues.