Tag: BlackSky
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BlackSky will add sharper focus and night vision to future Earth-watching satellites
One of BlackSky’s Global satellites sits on a stand that’s visible at the center of this view of the LeoStella satellite factory floor in Tukwila, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) BlackSky’s satellites are already producing frequently updated, high-resolution views of planet Earth — but now the company says its next-generation spacecraft will kick things…
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SpaceX launches 57 stealth satellites for Starlink network, plus a pair for BlackSky
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) After weeks of delay, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent up 57 more satellites for its Starlink broadband internet constellation, with two BlackSky planet-watching satellites hitching a ride. The launch was originally scheduled for June, but had to be put off…
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Air Force goes with BlackSky’s Spectra AI platform to track impact of COVID-19
A satellite image of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reveals an unusually high number of parked airplanes (identified in yellow boxes) and an unusually low number of parked cars. That’s consistent with what would be expected during the COVID-19 pandemic. (BlackSky Photo) BlackSky, a satellite data venture with offices in Seattle, says it’s won a U.S.…
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Falcon 9 launch of South Korean military satellite postponed
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT) with SpaceX statement. Updated at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) with Elon Musk statement. Updated July 14 with possible launch date of Sunday, July 19. Updated July 16 with weather forecast. The Anasis 2 satellite is prepared for shipment to Cape Canaveral from Airbus’s facility in Toulouse,…
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SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket launch next week with Korean military satellite
A Falcon 9 rocket — without its payload fairing — fired up on Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch Saturday for a pre-flight test-firing. Credit: William Harwood/CBS News Hours after calling off a launch of a different rocket from a nearby launch pad, SpaceX’s launch team loaded a Falcon 9 rocket with propellant Saturday and fired…
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LeoStella confirms delivery of BlackSky’s Earth observation satellites for SpaceX launch
In a photo from 2019, LeoStella technicians work on the first satellite to be produced by the Tukwila, Wash.-based joint venture. (GeekWire Photo) Tukwila, Wash.-based LeoStella cast a spotlight today on the delivery of its first two built-from-scratch satellites for the BlackSky Earth-watching constellation — with their launch on a SpaceX rocket set for Thursday.…
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Japanese firms finish acquisition of Spaceflight, with BlackSky satellite venture going its own way
One of Spaceflight’s most notable projects was the launch of 64 satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December 2018. (SpaceX Photo) Japan’s Mitsui & Co., working in partnership with Yamasa Co. Ltd., has completed the acquisition of Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. from its parent company, Spaceflight Industries. Today’s announcement of the transaction’s completion follows…
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New rules streamline procedures for licensing commercial space imaging systems
An artist’s conception shows BlackSky’s Global satellites in orbit. (BlackSky Illustration) The Commerce Department has released a new set of rules aimed at making the procedure for licensing Earth-imaging satellite systems more in tune with what’s technically possible and commercially available on the global market. The regulatory streamlining effort was one of the initiatives sparked…
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How BlackSky’s Spectra geospatial data platform uses AI to make sense of satellite images
A color-coded satellite map of an area in northern Virginia shows that parking lots around Dulles Town Center are relatively open, as noted by the oval-shaped patchwork of green blocks just above the center of the image. But other parking lots, noted in shades of orange and red, are relatively busy. Such geospatial information can…