Matthew Nelson
Two Earth observation satellites operated by Spaceflight Industries’ BlackSky subsidiary began to capture images within 58 hours of launch via a SpaceX rideshare mission.
BlackSky said Monday its fifth and sixth satellites initially took images of South Africa's Port Elizabeth, helping the company to generate economic and financial indicators that reflect commercial activity there based on collected imagery.
The global monitoring services provider also used its artificial intelligence-based geospatial data analysis platform, Spectra AI, to gain insights such as the movement of ground vehicles and the number of container stacks at the port.
"To help customers immediately access critical information, BlackSky has developed GEOINT technologies combined with machine learning to rapidly deploy and seamlessly integrate satellites into our product suite," said Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky.
SpaceX deployed the satellites, which produce submeter resolution imagery, to inclined orbit Aug. 7 as part of Starlink mission Aug. 7.
BlackSky noted it intends to field six more satellites by the end of the first quarter.
