Tuesday, March 6, 2018

BlackSky Plans Launch Of First Of New Earth Imaging Satellites This Year

Seattle-based BlackSky, the earth imaging satellite arm of Spaceflight Industries, says it is ready to launch its first earth imaging satellites. According to BlackSky, its first "smallsat" is called the Global-1, and is one of four the company expects to launch in the next year. BlackSky said its satellites will provide 1-meter resolution to collect earth imaging for business and other applications. The company launched its first, prototype satellite, the Pathfinder, in September of 2016. BlackSky did not say which space launch vendors its plans to use to launch the satellites, saying it is using a mix of both US and international launch providers. Spaceflight Industries' main business is scheduling and arranging secondary satellite payload launches for its clients.