On June 3, BlackSky of Seattle, WA announced it has signed an agreement with HawkEye 360 of Herndon, VA. As part of the agreement, HawkEye 360 will provide API access to selected RF data for customers interested in global spectrum monitoring. BlackSky intends to integrate data from HawkEye 360’s RF satellites into the BlackSky geospatial platform and resell it to its customers as part of its analytical services.
“This is a very unique offering that provides key markets such as
defense, maritime, and emergency response, with a new layer of high-impact
geospatial intelligence,” said Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky. “Being able to
access and visualize this data, fuse it with other data sets, and analyze it
within one platform is incredibly valuable.”
“Our combined data sets provide unparalleled visibility into previously
undetected activity such as illegal fishing, sanctions violations, and human
trafficking,” said Chris DeMay, founder and CTO of HawkEye 360. “By integrating
HawkEye 360’s RF data into the BlackSky platform, users can geolocate ships who
have attempted to ‘go dark’ and tip-and-cue BlackSky satellites for additional
evidence of the illicit activity. HawkEye is excited to partner with BlackSky
to provide time-dominant, multi-intelligence global awareness services.”
BlackSky officially began its commercial operations in early May, after
successfully completing several significant on-orbit milestones of its first
two Earth-imaging spacecraft, Global-1 and -2. All within the BlackSky
web-based platform, customers can easily task and acquire imagery from the
smallsats to track and monitor changes at locations of interest. The company is
scheduled to launch Global-3 and Global-4 in the coming months and plans to
launch four more satellites later this year.
“Now that we have fully integrated our constellation with our global
intelligence platform and ground station network, we are delivering
mission-critical imaging and analytic solutions to our customers,” added
O’Toole.
Early users are recognizing BlackSky’s best-in-class order response and
image latency across a range of geographies. For example, an international
military organization cites the adaptiveness and automation of the BlackSky
constellation as vital for delivering critical insights to troops on the ground
and in the air. “BlackSky understands and is committed to meeting our demands;
it’s a critical tool in developing daily intelligence reports.”
With eight satellites on orbit by the end of this year, BlackSky expects to deliver more than five revisits per day over many sites of interest; by 2020, with more than 16 smallsats on orbit, revisits will double and provide hourly monitoring. Once on orbit, the 16 satellites will provide frequent revisit rates of 95 percent of the Earth’s population. The constellation’s goal is to provide a fast revisit rate critical for monitoring global events or locations, as well as low latency.
Source: BlackSky
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