BlackSky Technology has announced a significant seven-figure contract with Australian startup HEO to provide imagery of space objects for defense, intelligence, and commercial use.
Through this agreement, BlackSky, a company known for its rapid and automated Earth observation capabilities, will join HEO's non-Earth imaging sensor network. This partnership will allow BlackSky to leverage its high-resolution satellite constellation for non-Earth imaging purposes, expanding its services beyond traditional Earth observation.
“Leveraging the power of real-time dynamic monitoring in the space domain unlocks additional value from BlackSky’s high-resolution constellation,” stated BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole. “Space situational awareness is critically important for our customers as the space domain continues to become a highly contested operational environment. Automatically tasking and receiving NEI products reflects yet another pioneering innovation that gives customers reliable and actionable space-based intelligence about spacecraft or on-orbit objects of interest at mission speed.”
Specifically, BlackSky will provide high-resolution imagery of mid-inclination orbit to HEO. This capability will allow BlackSky to utilize unused capacity typically associated with satellites passing over the ocean or during eclipse.
Prior to the announcement, BlackSky and HEO collaborated to test their non-Earth imaging partnership. Now, the focus is on automating the entire tasking-to-delivery process for seamless imagery acquisition and distribution.
“HEO is driving innovation in space by delivering non-Earth imaging solutions at scale, giving our customers in-orbit insights when timing is crucial,” said Will Crowe, HEO co-founder and CEO. “Adding BlackSky’s high-resolution constellation to HEO’s sensor network through this partnership will unlock even more applications of NEI data across industries.”
HEO customers will be able to request non-Earth imagery through an automated tasking and delivery platform, HEO Inspect. The platform will identify imaging opportunities and automatically task BlackSky satellites through an API. Captured imagery will be transferred along with metadata to HEO Inspect for object detection and identification.
Customers will receive "advanced analytics reports that include information such as a satellite’s attitude and location, subsystems identification and pattern-of-life analyses," according to the news release.