Herndon, Virginia: BlackSky Technology Inc. has announced a significant milestone in its space intelligence operations with the signing of a seven-figure contract with Australian-based HEO. The agreement will expand the use of BlackSky’s Gen-2 high-resolution imaging constellation to deliver fully automated, low-latency non-Earth imaging (NEI) services tailored for defense, intelligence, and commercial applications.
The deal, now entering its fourth operational phase, builds upon the successful automation of BlackSky’s tasking-to-delivery pipeline, which allows customers to receive critical space-based intelligence in real time without human intervention.
“As on-orbit activity accelerates, the need to monitor satellites, spacecraft, and other orbital assets has never been greater,” said Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky. “Automatically tasking and delivering NEI products represents another leap forward in our ability to provide customers with reliable, timely, and actionable space intelligence at mission speed.”
Traditionally, satellite constellations have focused on terrestrial monitoring—tracking events, infrastructure, or environmental changes on Earth. With this partnership, BlackSky is extending those capabilities to space domain awareness, using its mid-inclination orbit satellites to capture data on objects in orbit. By leveraging untapped satellite capacity—such as passes over oceans or periods when satellites travel through Earth’s shadow—BlackSky can deliver meaningful intelligence that was previously difficult or costly to obtain.
HEO’s sophisticated software platform plays a central role in this process, autonomously identifying the best imaging opportunities and assigning BlackSky’s satellites to monitor specific orbital targets. These targets can include satellites, space debris, or potential threats to national security. Once collected, the data is fed into HEO Inspect, the company’s automated platform, where advanced algorithms analyze the imagery and generate detailed reports on satellite positioning, subsystems, and behavioral patterns.
“Achieving global space awareness requires frequent, precise, and automated monitoring capabilities across multiple orbital layers,” explained Dr. Will Crowe, Co-Founder and CEO of HEO. “By integrating BlackSky’s Gen-2 constellation, we’re transforming satellite downtime into valuable insights—effectively giving operators real-time eyes on orbit whenever they need them.”
The ability to rapidly detect, characterize, and track space objects has profound implications for defense and intelligence agencies tasked with safeguarding national assets in orbit. Commercial satellite operators are also expected to benefit, gaining greater situational awareness to protect their constellations and ensure mission continuity in an increasingly congested orbital environment.
Experts note that autonomous NEI services could become a cornerstone of space traffic management and collision avoidance initiatives as both public and private entities race to deploy hundreds of satellites.
HEO first integrated BlackSky’s satellites into its NEI sensor network in 2024, significantly expanding coverage of middle latitude orbits. This latest expansion signals a growing demand for NEI services as governments and corporations look beyond Earth observation toward real-time orbital intelligence.
Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, BlackSky operates one of the industry’s most advanced small satellite constellations, known for delivering rapid, high-frequency imagery. Meanwhile, HEO, based in Australia with offices in the U.K. and U.S., continues to pioneer non-Earth imaging at scale, with ambitions to deploy NEI sensors across all orbits in the Earth-Moon system.
The expanded contract marks a crucial step toward establishing continuous, autonomous, and scalable space monitoring—reinforcing BlackSky and HEO’s positions as leaders in the next frontier of intelligence.
