Aerospace
BlackSky Signs Seven-Figure HEO Non-Earth Imaging Renewal Adding Gen-3
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BlackSky Technology Inc. (BKSY ) signed a seven-figure annual contract extension with HEO to enable fully automated, low-latency non-Earth imaging (NEI), the company announced on October 15, 2026. The renewal incorporates access to BlackSky’s next-generation, very high-resolution Gen-3 satellite imagery, which the company said provides unmatched clarity, quality, frequency and speed for global space domain awareness (SDA) missions across the defense, intelligence and commercial sectors.
BlackSky said the partnership has grown from an initial short-term, six-figure pilot into a seven-figure annual contract now entering its third year. The extension pairs BlackSky’s Gen-3 very high-resolution imagery and Gen-2 constellation with HEO’s software and analysis, combining the high-cadence Gen-2 monitoring constellation with the increased imaging precision of the Gen-3 satellites.
Gen-3 Joins Automated Non-Earth Imaging Pipeline
By leveraging BlackSky’s advanced architecture, HEO’s target and imaging algorithms will identify expanded SDA tracking opportunities with access to BlackSky’s full constellation to observe, characterize and track spacecraft and other objects in orbit. BlackSky said the higher-resolution Gen-3 imagery will enable deeper analysis and richer insights into objects in orbit, delivering more frequent and precise intelligence at mission speed.
The fully automated tasking-to-delivery pipeline through HEO Inspect allows international defense and commercial operators to generate rapid analytics reports, identify satellite subsystems, perform anomaly detection and map pattern-of-life behaviors enabled by object detection and identification algorithms and data fusion. The October 15, 2026 announcement included a BlackSky non-Earth image of the Landsat-5 satellite collected through the HEO Inspect platform.
“Our expanded partnership with HEO reflects the rapid evolution of non-Earth imagery from a specialized proof-of-concept into a critical component of mainstream space domain awareness,” BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole said. O’Toole said that with access to the combined Gen-2 and Gen-3 constellation, customers gain what he called industry-leading image clarity and more collection opportunities essential for observing and characterizing intricate objects in orbit. He said BlackSky’s software-defined, AI-enabled end-to-end architecture provides the flexibility to leverage unused constellation capacity and deliver high-value, real-time intelligence for SDA missions without disrupting the company’s primary terrestrial imaging operations.
Will Crowe, HEO’s CEO and co-founder, said the space industry is entering an era in which operators must inspect, understand and maintain the infrastructure they put in orbit. “That requires more frequent access to high-resolution imagery, without building a dedicated spacecraft for every mission,” Crowe said. He said combining BlackSky’s constellation with HEO’s software can unlock more value from existing space infrastructure and give customers a clearer picture of the objects they depend on.
Partnership Grew Out of 2024 Integration
The relationship between BlackSky and HEO began in 2024 with the integration of BlackSky’s proprietary mid-inclination orbit constellation into the HEO Inspect platform. BlackSky said the partnership progressed through phases of development that expanded HEO customers’ access to its non-Earth imaging.
In an August 19, 2025 announcement, BlackSky said it had signed a seven-figure Gen-2 space domain awareness expansion contract with HEO to provide fully automated, low-latency NEI services for defense, intelligence and commercial use. That imagery data services deal was moving into its fourth phase after the companies completed automation of the entire tasking-to-delivery process. Under that contract, HEO’s software platform would autonomously identify imaging opportunities and task BlackSky’s Gen-2 satellites to detect, track, characterize and classify objects in orbit, as well as assess potential threats and predict their effects.
BlackSky’s high-cadence imaging satellites fly in mid-inclination orbit, and the company said in 2025 that this was expected to increase the feasibility of capturing NEI data over the middle latitudes of Earth at certain times and places, supporting applications including constellation monitoring and anomaly detection. The 2025 release noted that a BlackSky Gen-2 satellite captured an image of China’s Tiangong space station at a distance of 83 kilometers as the station orbited above Bulgaria on March 13, 2025.
HEO added BlackSky’s constellation to its NEI sensor network in 2024, according to the 2025 announcement. Customers requesting NEI products through HEO Inspect receive analytics reports that include information such as a satellite’s attitude and location, subsystem identification and pattern-of-life analyses.
