HawkEye 360’s Clusters 8 & 9 Satellites Ready for Spring Launch with SpaceX

HawkEye 360 Inc., the world’s leading defense technology company for space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced that its clusters 8 and 9, which contain six satellites total, will launch aboard SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 Rideshare mission from Florida no earlier than April 2024. This is the first time HawkEye 360 is placing two clusters simultaneously into orbit, positioned at mid-inclination for increased coverage over the busiest maritime traffic corridors of the world.

“The launch of Clusters 8 and 9 underscores HawkEye 360’s commitment to consistently enhance our constellation to address the mission needs of our customers across the globe,” said Rob Rainhart, HawkEye 360 President. “Through the dedication and ingenuity of our space team and partner Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), we are pleased to introduce significant upgrades to our satellite payloads that will further significantly expand our RF data collection and processing capabilities.”

Clusters 8 and 9 are equipped with upgraded payloads that enable up to a 5x increase in data collection, significantly larger collection bandwidths, and multi-band signal collection. High-speed downlink transmitters quadruple the speed at which data is delivered back to the earth, bringing actionable, multi-dimensional geospatial information for swift and informed decision-making. The mid-inclination orbit of Clusters 8 and 9 will further support HawkEye 360’s work to help monitor and prevent Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing across the Indo-Pacific region.

HawkEye 360 currently operates a constellation of 23 satellites. Once Clusters 8 and 9 are in orbit, the constellation of 29 satellites will detect, characterize, and geolocate RF signals from a broad range of emitters used for communication, navigation, and security.