{"id":17498,"date":"2021-09-13T23:41:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T15:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/beyond-satellites-now-that-its-gone-public-blacksky-will-boldly-go-into-new-markets\/"},"modified":"2021-09-13T23:41:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T15:41:35","slug":"beyond-satellites-now-that-its-gone-public-blacksky-will-boldly-go-into-new-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/beyond-satellites-now-that-its-gone-public-blacksky-will-boldly-go-into-new-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond satellites: Now that it\u2019s gone public, BlackSky will boldly go into new markets"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_641560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-641560\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-641560\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-630x630.jpg\" alt=\"Black Sky executives at NYSE\" width=\"630\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-630x630.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-1260x1260.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210913-bksy-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-641560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">BlackSky CEO Brian O\u2019Toole (center) and other company executives celebrate ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. (Black Sky Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As a private venture, BlackSky made a name for itself providing satellite imagery and data analysis primarily for military and government customers. But now that it\u2019s an independent, publicly traded company, the satellite subsidiary that got its start in Seattle is setting its sights higher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a thrilling outcome for the company,\u201d said BlackSky CEO Brian O\u2019Toole, who rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange today. \u201cThis is going to gross over $280 million in capital to fund our growth plan. We\u2019re in the early stages here of an exciting new space sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result of BlackSky\u2019s business combination with Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp. \u2014&nbsp;which had been in the works for months and took full effect last week \u2014 the company\u2019s shares are being traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol BKSY.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the latest in a string of space-related deals involving special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. (Other notable space-SPAC deals have involved Virgin Galactic, Astra and Rocket Lab), It\u2019s also the latest chapter for a venture that started out in 2013 as a subsidiary of Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries, and broke out on its own last year after the umbrella company\u2019s other subsidiary, Spaceflight Inc., was acquired by a Japanese joint venture.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) Rings The Opening Bell\u00ae\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KWlbQV6dQEI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>BlackSky\u2019s holdings include a constellation of Earth-observation satellites and a half-interest (along with Thales Alenia Space) in LeoStella, a satellite manufacturing venture headquartered in Tukwila, Wash. But O\u2019Toole is fond of saying that BlackSky isn\u2019t just a satellite company:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about satellite imagery,\u201d he told GeekWire in an interview last week. \u201cIt\u2019s really about real-time global intelligence, and enabling access to our capabilities and data for a whole new group of customers that have not had that before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For years, BlackSky has been providing real-time geospatial intelligence to government and military customers through its AI-based Spectra software platform. Just last month, the company won a contract modification to provide the National Reconnaissance Office with a monthly subscription to on-demand satellite imagery.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Toole said the capital unlocked by the Osprey SPAC deal will make it possible to offer Spectra services for a wider range of markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had an incredible amount of incoming interest from the commercial sector,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the second quarter, we had over 30 different enterprises approach us. These range from global construction companies to global energy companies, to insurance operators. It goes on and on \u2014 there\u2019s just a pent-up demand for easy access to this type of data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Toole said the fresh infusion of SPAC funding will go toward expanding BlackSky\u2019s sales force, improving the Spectra platform \u2014 and beefing up the BlackSky Global constellation, which currently has seven satellites in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Spectra is already speeding up the pace of satellite intelligence gathering. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that we can get customers on our platform very quickly, within a day,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then they\u2019re able to task our satellites and get data in under 90 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_585481\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-585481\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-585481\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/200923-otoole-630x454.jpg\" alt=\"Brian O'Toole\" width=\"630\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/200923-otoole-630x454.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/200923-otoole-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/200923-otoole.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-585481\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian O\u2019Toole is the CEO of BlackSky, which has offices in Seattle and Herndon, Va. (BlackSky Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After working through a launch glitch that led to the loss of two satellites in May, Rocket Lab is due to launch as many as six more of BlackSky\u2019s satellites by the end of the year. That will boost the fleet to more than a dozen spacecraft, O\u2019Toole noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a very significant milestone for us, because it gets us the ability to deliver revisit performance at about once an hour throughout the day,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>In just a few years\u2019 time, the constellation is due to reach its full complement of 30 satellites, including third-generation spacecraft that will be equipped with higher-resolution cameras and short-wave infrared night vision. And O\u2019Toole vows that the upgrades will continue.<\/p>\n<p>Although BlackSky\u2019s center of gravity has shifted from Seattle to Herndon, Va., over the years, O\u2019Toole says the newly public company will maintain a strong corporate presence in the Pacific Northwest. More than 50 of the company\u2019s 200-plus employees are based in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven after this merger, we still maintain 50% ownership in LeoStella, down in Tukwila, and they are building our satellites and will continue to do so. This transaction helps them as well \u2014 it gives them clear visibility into orders from us out of that facility,\u201d O\u2019Toole said. \u201cSo, yeah, I see Seattle remaining for a long time the source of the space-centric expertise we have in the company.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BlackSky CEO Brian O\u2019Toole (center) and other company executives celebrate ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. (Black Sky Photo) As a private venture, BlackSky made a name for itself providing satellite imagery and data analysis primarily for military and government customers. But now that it\u2019s an independent, publicly traded company, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[404,2128,159,4725,20,442],"class_list":["post-17498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blacksky","tag-blacksky-global","tag-earth-observation","tag-global-satellite","tag-satellite","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}