Agreement secures ability to commence launch of Gen-3 satellites in 2024
HERNDON, Va. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — August 8, 2023 — 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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