{"id":17553,"date":"2021-05-15T01:28:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T17:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/seattles-satellite-industry-plays-leading-role-in-blackskys-earth-observing-network\/"},"modified":"2021-05-15T01:28:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T17:28:18","slug":"seattles-satellite-industry-plays-leading-role-in-blackskys-earth-observing-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/seattles-satellite-industry-plays-leading-role-in-blackskys-earth-observing-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle\u2019s satellite industry plays leading role in BlackSky\u2019s Earth-observing network"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_620702\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-620702\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-620702\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-630x473.png\" alt=\"BlackSky satellites\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-630x473.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-1260x945.png 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-1536x1152.png 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210515-leostella-2048x1536.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-620702\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The two BlackSky satellites that were launched, and lost, during a Rocket Lab mission are seen here at LeoStella\u2019s satellite factory being prepared for shipment to New Zealand in March. (LeoStella Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Update for 6:30 a.m. PT May 15:<\/strong> Two BlackSky satellites were lost when the second stage of Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket suffered an anomaly, minutes after liftoff from New Zealand. \u201cWe are deeply sorry to our customers Spaceflight Inc. and BlackSky for the loss of their payloads,\u201d Rocket Lab said in a statement. The cause of the anomaly is under investigation. Check out this story for updates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Previously:<\/strong> Satellites for BlackSky\u2019s constellation of Earth-watching spacecraft may be launched from as far away as New Zealand, but their path to orbit features prominent stops in the Seattle area.<\/p>\n<p>BlackSky\u2019s Global satellites are designed and built at LeoStella\u2019s factory in Tukwila, Wash., not far from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. handled the pre-launch logistics for May 15\u2019s liftoff of two satellites atop a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle. And BlackSky itself splits its staff between Herndon, Va., and the company\u2019s original home base in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Seattle space trifecta!\u201d Jodi Sorensen, vice president of marketing for Spaceflight Inc., said in tweet.<\/p>\n<p>The May 15 liftoff occurred at Rocket Lab\u2019s launch complex on New Zealand\u2019s Mahia Peninsula. Rocket Lab nicknamed the mission \u201cRunning Out of Toes,\u201d in recognition of its status as the startup\u2019s 20th launch. But BlackSky and LeoStella are nowhere near close to running out of satellites: Seven are in low Earth orbit already.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to expand the number of satellites to 30,\u201d BlackSky CEO Brian O\u2019Toole said Thursday during an online dialogue presented by the University of Washington\u2019s Space Policy and Research Center. \u201cThat will be in the 2024-2025 time frame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LeoStella, which is a joint venture between BlackSky and Thales Alenia Space, is working with BlackSky to develop third-generation satellites capable of providing images with 50-centimeter (20-inch) pixel resolution and short-wave infrared capabilities. But O\u2019Toole emphasized that the satellites themselves are just one component of BlackSky\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see us as a satellite company,\u201d he said. \u201cI talk about BlackSky as being a software and data analytics company that happens to have some satellites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Readings from BlackSky\u2019s satellites \u2014 and from other Earth observation systems \u2014 feed into the company\u2019s AI-enhanced geospatial intelligence platform, known as Spectra, The software platform tracks changes in the imagery over time, and correlates those changes with other data ranging from financial statistics to social media postings.<\/p>\n<p>The results can provide insights into such phenomena as the effects of this year\u2019s Suez Canal blockage on global shipping, or the aftermath of the past week\u2019s Colonial Pipeline shutdown. For the Seattle audience, O\u2019Toole noted that BlackSky has contributed to philanthropic causes at the late billionaire Paul Allen\u2019s Vulcan Inc. and at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did a lot of work helping Vulcan\u2019s philanthropic group understand how space-based technology could be applied to the problem of illegal fishing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had discussions \u2014 again, Seattle-based discussions \u2014 with the Gates Foundation on using geospatial technologies for understanding where you need to deploy resources for vaccinations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Be the First to Know. With BlackSky.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BgilnEFP0ks?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>When BlackSky was created, back in 2013, the idea was that anyone would be able to order up near-real-time imagery from the venture\u2019s satellites and download a picture in 90 minutes. But for now, the company is focusing on government customers and business-to-business applications rather than the consumer market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll remain that way for a while,\u201d O\u2019Toole said.<\/p>\n<p>Big changes are ahead for BlackSky: The company is due to go public within a couple of months, under the terms of a nearly $1.5 billion blank-check merger with Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab is in the midst of big changes as well, and not just because the company is getting ready its own $4.1 billion SPAC merger with Vector Acquisition Corp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRunning Out of Toes\u201d was meant to mark the second at-sea recovery of the Electron rocket\u2019s first-stage booster \u2014 following up on last November\u2019s first try. This time around, the booster was equipped with an upgraded heat shield. Rocket Lab also developed a hydraulic cradle for pulling the ship out of the Pacific Ocean and lifting it onto a recovery ship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019ll be wet, but it\u2019ll be in great condition versus some of the damage that the previous vehicle suffered as we brought it onto the boat in 5-meter swells,\u201d Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told reporters during a pre-launch briefing.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab is planning at least one more splashdown experiment after \u201cRunning Out of Toes,\u201d but eventually the company intends to send out a helicopter after each launch to snatch the booster out of the sky as it floats down on the end of a parachute. Now that would be something for BlackSky\u2019s satellites to watch for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two BlackSky satellites that were launched, and lost, during a Rocket Lab mission are seen here at LeoStella\u2019s satellite factory being prepared for shipment to New Zealand in March. (LeoStella Photo) Update for 6:30 a.m. PT May 15: Two BlackSky satellites were lost when the second stage of Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket suffered an [&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":[404,2128,4745,4542,544,20,442,2340],"class_list":["post-17553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blacksky","tag-blacksky-global","tag-electron-rocket","tag-leostella","tag-rocket-lab","tag-satellite","tag-satellites","tag-spaceflight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17553"}],"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=17553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}