BlackSky Wins Approximately $50 Million in Multi-Year Contracts for Gen-3 Capabilities and Services to Accelerate Sovereign Space Capabilities for Indonesian Ministry of Defense
Jakarta, Indonesia, January 25, 2024, 9:19 a.m. Western Indonesia Time. BlackSky’s unconventional mid-inclination orbits and AI automation produce high-cadence, time-diverse images which are difficult to capture with traditional Earth observation systems. Credit: BlackSky Technology Inc.
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) won a first-of-its-kind contract with Thales Alenia Space supporting the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of the Republic of Indonesia to deliver Gen-3 Earth observation satellites, ground station capabilities and flight operations support. BlackSky has also provided Assured subscription-based real-time imagery and analytics services to support the Indonesian MoD. These multi-year contracts have a combined value of approximately $50 million dollars.
“Continuing our string of pioneering innovations in the space-based intelligence industry, BlackSky now offers sovereign nations the ability to gain foresight into critical matters that affect their national security and economy using commercially available Earth observation technology today,” said Brian E. O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “Indonesia’s first sovereign satellites will share the same advanced capabilities as BlackSky's future Gen-3 commercial constellation.”
The Indonesian MoD has subscription-based Assured access to BlackSky’s current high-cadence, real-time imagery and analytics services, giving the customer guaranteed access and first-priority tasking capacity over their national and regional areas of interest. These services, delivered through a separate agreement between PT Len and BlackSky, will provide early intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for satellite capability for the MoD until the Indonesian Defense Satellite System becomes operational. Once operational the Gen-3 electro-optical satellites are expected to deliver low-latency high-frequency imagery and analytics seamlessly into the customer’s workflow.
"This announcement follows the multi-mission contract already signed between Thales Alenia Space and PT Len Industri to provide a state-of-the-art Earth observation constellation combining both radar and optical sensors and dedicated to the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD). We are very pleased to partner with BlackSky to deliver modern space capabilities aligns with Indonesia’s drive to modernize and restructure its defense capabilities in an increasingly complex threat environment,” said Hervé Derrey, Thales Alenia Space CEO.