New satellites deliver customer analyses within first 14 hours of launch

HERNDON, Va. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 18, 2021 — BlackSky’s (NYSE: BKSY) latest satellites reached orbit and delivered first insights within 14 hours of launch. The company’s constellation growth signals a return to space and an increased capacity for global customers.

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BlackSky's newest satellites delivered first insights within 14 hours of launch. This was the first image taken, which shows the fully-automated mapping and vessel detection capabilities of the company's Spectra AI analytics platform. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Growing BlackSky’s constellation and increasing our rapid-revisit monitoring capabilities is about more than just getting satellites into space,” said Nick Merski, BlackSky chief operations officer. “The key value to customers is how quickly we incorporate data from these sensors into our AI architecture. It’s about the prompt delivery of top quality, automated services for insights that our customers can trust.”

BlackSky’s “Love at First Insight” satellites entered orbit approximately 54 to 56 minutes after launch, promptly completed system checkouts, and were operationalized to collect and transfer imagery into BlackSky’s Spectra AI suite of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, which immediately processed, analyzed, and detected objects of interest with no humans in the loop.

“With this launch, we have visibility on a path to double the constellation size by the end of the year and more importantly allow us to grow our revenues as we expand our ability for customers to gain first-to-know insights,” added Merski.

BlackSky has plans to grow its smallsat constellation by up to four additional satellites by the end of 2021. The successful launch of these satellites will double BlackSky’s current capacity and achieve an average hourly revisit rate. Over the next several years the company seeks to establish a constellation of multi-spectral satellites capable of monitoring key locations on Earth every 30 minutes, day or night. The satellites launched on the “Love at First Insight” mission were designed and manufactured by LeoStella, BlackSky’s smallsat development and manufacturing partner. LeoStella is focused on manufacturing satellites at scale and continuously evolving its satellite product line to serve the growing satellite constellation market.

Through its growing constellation of high-revisit satellites, BlackSky’s real-time global intelligence services provides enhanced situational awareness for commercial and government customers around the 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 and (ii) achieve anticipated revisit rates and maintain current launch schedules. 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.

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