BlackSky Signs Five-Launch Deal with Rocket Lab to Launch Next-Gen Capabilities and Meet Growing Demand for High-Frequency Monitoring
August 08 2023 - 4:15PM
Business Wire
Agreement secures ability to commence launch of
Gen-3 satellites in 2024
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) and Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
(Nasdaq: RKLB) signed an agreement to buy a block of five launches
that will increase capacity and introduce new capabilities into
BlackSky’s rapid-revisit, high-res constellation.
“We continue to see strong, growing demand for our
high-frequency, low latency offering from our current and next
generation constellation especially for defense and intelligence
customers who need real-time, on-demand intelligence in support of
critical missions,” said Brian E. O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “With
these launches BlackSky will replenish, replace, and expand
on-orbit capacity, introduce Gen-3 capabilities, and further enable
BlackSky to meet the demands of the most time-dominant missions.
This commitment follows a series of accomplishments with Rocket Lab
that have demonstrated agility in deploying capacity where and when
our customers need it most.”
“After four years of launching for BlackSky, we’re delighted to
continue our partnership with more dedicated launches on Electron,”
said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “Building and
maintaining a constellation requires precision deployment to unique
orbits and a dependable launch schedule. We’re proud to deliver
this dependable and tailored capability launch after launch, year
after year.”
BlackSky’s next-generation Gen-3 satellites are designed to
produce images with up to 35-centimeter resolution. When coupled
with BlackSky Spectra, our proprietary AI-driven tasking and
analytics platform, the combination gives customers the ability to
detect critical change with increased speed, on-demand.
Increased resolution and enhanced spectral diversity extend
BlackSky’s ability to provide real-time insights to its customers
in a broad set of conditions, including nighttime, low light and
challenging weather. BlackSky’s unique ability to capture and
quickly deliver large volumes of dawn-to-dusk, time-diverse imagery
increases transparency into strategic defense and economic
activities that could otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
Rocket Lab has launched six successful Electron missions for
BlackSky since 2019. The launches are expected to take place
beginning in 2024 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New
Zealand.
About BlackSky BlackSky is a leading provider of
real-time geospatial intelligence. BlackSky delivers on-demand,
high frequency imagery, monitoring and analytics of the most
critical and strategic locations, economic assets, and events in
the world.
BlackSky designs, owns and operates one of the industry’s
leading low earth orbit small satellite constellations, optimized
to capture imagery cost-efficiently where and when our customers
need it. BlackSky’s Spectra AI software platform processes data
from BlackSky’s constellation and from other third-party sensors to
develop the critical insights and analytics that our customers
require.
BlackSky is relied upon by U.S. and international government
agencies, commercial businesses, and organizations around the
world. BlackSky is headquartered in Herndon, VA, and is publicly
traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BKSY. To learn more, visit
www.blacksky.com and follow us on X (Twitter).
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this
press release may contain 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. 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. 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 BlackSky’s disclosure materials filed from time to
time with the SEC which are available at the SEC’s website at
http://www.sec.gov or on BlackSky’s Investor Relations website at
https://ir.blacksky.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230808709325/en/
Investor Contact Aly Bonilla VP, Investor Relations
abonilla@blacksky.com
Media Contact Pauly Cabellon Director, External Communications
pcabellon@blacksky.com
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