BlackSky Extends HEO Space Domain Awareness Agreement with New Seven-Figure Non-Earth Imaging Contract Featuring Gen-3
The partnership has grown from a short-term, six-figure pilot to a seven-figure annual contract entering its third year.
Sentiment and the balance of points
Rhea-AI Sentiment reads the wording of the document, how positive or negative its language is on a 1 to 5 scale. The balance of points shown with the takes weighs what the document actually discloses, so the two can disagree, for example when a trial that missed its main goal is described in upbeat language.
The agreement will enable fully automated, low-latency intelligence of space objects by combining BlackSky’s Gen-3 very high-resolution imagery and Gen-2 with HEO software and analysis
A BlackSky non-Earth image of the Landsat-5 satellite collected through the HEO Inspect platform.
“Our expanded partnership with HEO reflects the rapid evolution of non-Earth imagery from a specialized proof-of-concept into a critical component of mainstream space domain awareness,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “With access to our combined Gen-2 and Gen-3 constellation, customers gain industry-leading image clarity and more collection opportunities essential for observing and characterizing intricate objects in orbit. Our software-defined, AI-enabled end-to-end architecture provides the flexibility to seamlessly leverage unused constellation capacity and deliver high-value, real-time intelligence for vital SDA missions without disrupting our primary terrestrial imaging operations.”
“We are entering an era where we must inspect, understand and maintain the infrastructure we put in orbit. That requires more frequent access to high-resolution imagery, without building a dedicated spacecraft for every mission,” said Will Crowe, HEO CEO & Co-Founder. “By combining BlackSky’s constellation with HEO’s software, we can unlock more value from existing space infrastructure and give customers a clearer picture of the objects they depend on.”
The expansion introduces next-generation capabilities, combining BlackSky’s high-cadence Gen-2 monitoring constellation with the increased imaging precision of its Gen-3 satellites. By leveraging BlackSky’s advanced architecture, HEO’s target and imaging algorithms will identify expanded SDA tracking opportunities with access to BlackSky’s full constellation to observe, characterize, and track spacecraft and other objects in orbit. Higher resolution Gen-3 imagery will also enable deeper analysis and richer insights into objects in orbit, delivering more frequent and precise intelligence at mission speed.
The relationship between BlackSky and HEO began in 2024 with the integration of BlackSky's proprietary mid-inclination orbit constellation into the HEO Inspect platform. The partnership progressed through rigorous phases of development, expanding HEO customers’ access to BlackSky’s NEI. Today, this fully automated tasking-to-delivery pipeline through HEO Inspect allows international defense and commercial operators to generate rapid analytics reports, identify satellite subsystems, perform anomaly detection, and map pattern-of-life behaviors enabled by object detection and identification algorithms and data fusion.
About BlackSky
BlackSky is a real-time, space-based intelligence company that delivers on-demand, high frequency imagery, analytics, and high-frequency monitoring of the most critical and strategic locations, economic assets and events in the world. BlackSky owns and operates one of the industry’s most advanced, purpose-built commercial, real-time intelligence systems that combines the power of the BlackSky Spectra® tasking and analytics software platform and our proprietary low Earth orbit satellite constellation.
With BlackSky, customers can see, understand and anticipate changes for a decisive strategic advantage at the tactical edge, and act not just fast, but first. BlackSky is trusted by some of the most demanding
About HEO
HEO is building the intelligence layer for space. We image objects in orbit on demand, turning existing satellites into inspection platforms and building our own sensors where coverage gaps remain. Our software automates tasking, capture and analysis, turning imagery into insight about the condition, configuration and behaviour of objects in orbit. HEO operates internationally, with offices in Australia, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Our goal is to make any image in the Solar System available on demand.
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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261015435726/en/
BlackSky Investor Contact
Aly Bonilla
VP, Investor Relations
abonilla@blacksky.com
BlackSky Media Contact
Chuck Harper
External Communications
bksypr@blacksky.com
HEO Media Contact
Dane Brumm
Marketing Manager, HEO
media@heospace.com
Source: BlackSky Technology Inc.