BlackSky wins 5-year $290M NGA contract for global economic and military monitoring
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 04, 2024

BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has been awarded a five-year, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), worth up to $290 million. The contract, known as Luno A, focuses on monitoring global economic and environmental activity and military capabilities using advanced satellite imagery and AI-based change detection analytics.

Under this contract, BlackSky will deliver analytical services capable of detecting and identifying a wide range of objects such as aircraft, vehicles, ships, and shipping containers. The company's current and future satellite constellations will play a key role in monitoring changes in critical infrastructure. The company's proprietary broad area search capability will detect and analyze changes caused by human and natural activities, including deforestation, construction, mining, and climate-related events like flooding and wildfires.

Brian O'Toole, CEO of BlackSky, remarked, "The Luno A contract validates demand for BlackSky's commercial real-time, AI-driven dynamic monitoring services at massive scale. BlackSky's first-of-its-kind space-based intelligence system delivers answers to our customers' most pressing questions at industry-leading speed and economics."

The contract also aims to foster the development of new AI-driven products and services, allowing for enhanced management of large data volumes and generating predictive insights. BlackSky's innovative AI solutions will allow customers to conduct broad area searches more frequently, providing an efficient alternative to traditional methods.

O'Toole added, "BlackSky's commitment to automation across our entire architecture has had the cumulative effect of generating new, foundational machine learning tools for the U.S. government that will advance the key areas of focus for Luno A. Today, BlackSky monitors over more than 30 million square kilometers of the Earth's surface for the NGA."

BlackSky's subscription-based services are designed to support the NGA's modernization efforts, offering seamless integration of data and services into the agency's capabilities. The unclassified nature of the data ensures that Luno A products can be easily shared with key global partners and allies.

Luno A is a continuation of the NGA's Economic Indicator Monitoring (EIM) program, a $60 million contract awarded in 2021. Under the EIM contract, BlackSky successfully won six competitive delivery orders, providing commercial data services to support NGA's machine learning and AI initiatives.

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