BlackSky Extends HEO Space Domain Awareness Agreement with New Seven-Figure Non-Earth Imaging Contract Featuring Gen-3

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 15, 2026--

BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) signed a seven-figure annual extension with HEO to enable fully automated, low-latency non-Earth imaging (NEI). The renewal agreement marks a significant technological evolution in the partnership, incorporating access to BlackSky’s next-generation, very high-resolution Gen-3 imagery to provide unmatched clarity, quality, frequency and speed for global space domain awareness (SDA) missions across defense, intelligence and commercial sectors. The partnership grew quickly from an initial short-term, six-figure pilot to a growing seven-figure annual contract now entering its third year.

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“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,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “With access to our combined Gen-2 and Gen-3 constellation, customers gain industry-leading image clarity and more collection opportunities essential for observing and characterizing intricate objects in orbit. Our software-defined, AI-enabled end-to-end architecture provides the flexibility to seamlessly leverage unused constellation capacity and deliver high-value, real-time intelligence for vital SDA missions without disrupting our primary terrestrial imaging operations.”

“We are entering an era where we must inspect, understand and maintain the infrastructure we put in orbit. That requires more frequent access to high-resolution imagery, without building a dedicated spacecraft for every mission,” said Will Crowe, HEO CEO & Co-Founder. “By combining BlackSky’s constellation with HEO’s software, we can unlock more value from existing space infrastructure and give customers a clearer picture of the objects they depend on.”

The expansion introduces next-generation capabilities, combining BlackSky’s high-cadence Gen-2 monitoring constellation with the increased imaging precision of its Gen-3 satellites. 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. Higher resolution Gen-3 imagery will also enable deeper analysis and richer insights into objects in orbit, delivering more frequent and precise intelligence at mission speed.

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. The partnership progressed through rigorous phases of development, expanding HEO customers’ access to BlackSky’s NEI. Today, this 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.

About BlackSky

BlackSky is a real-time, space-based intelligence company that delivers on-demand, high frequency imagery, analytics, and high-frequency monitoring of the most critical and strategic locations, economic assets and events in the world. BlackSky owns and operates one of the industry’s most advanced, purpose-built commercial, real-time intelligence systems that combines the power of the BlackSky Spectra ® tasking and analytics software platform and our proprietary low Earth orbit satellite constellation.

With BlackSky, customers can see, understand and anticipate changes for a decisive strategic advantage at the tactical edge, and act not just fast, but first. BlackSky is trusted by some of the most demanding U.S. and international government agencies, commercial businesses, and organizations around the world. BlackSky is headquartered in Herndon, VA, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BKSY. To learn more, visit www.blacksky.com and follow us on X.

About HEO

HEO is building the intelligence layer for space. We image objects in orbit on demand, turning existing satellites into inspection platforms and building our own sensors where coverage gaps remain. Our software automates tasking, capture and analysis, turning imagery into insight about the condition, configuration and behaviour of objects in orbit. HEO operates internationally, with offices in Australia, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Our goal is to make any image in the Solar System available on demand.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to BlackSky. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this document. If any of these risks materialize or underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect our expectations, plans, or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause their assessments to change.

Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in BlackSky’s disclosure materials filed from time to time with the SEC which are available at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or on BlackSky’s Investor Relations website at https://ir.blacksky.com.

A BlackSky non-Earth image of the Landsat-5 satellite collected through the HEO Inspect platform.

LONDON (AP) — Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison for the rape and sex abuse of two girls decades ago.

The judge said that Donaldson, 63, had expressed no “regret, apology or shame” for crimes that had blighted the victims' lives.

Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland's best-known politicians until his arrest stunned his political colleagues and wider society two years ago.

He was convicted in June of one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two girls between 1985 and 2008. He had denied the charges.

Donaldson led the Democratic Unionist Party, the biggest party in favor of keeping Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, from 2021 until 2024. He resigned as leader of the conservative DUP after his arrest and gave up the seat in the U.K. House of Commons that he had held since 1997.

The DUP said in a statement that Donaldson “deserves every day of the lengthy prison sentence he has to serve” for his “vile and disgusting crimes.”

Judge Paul Ramsey said that the ex-politician had undergone a “catastrophic descent into disgrace.” He sentenced him at Newry Crown Court, south of Belfast, to 11 years for offenses against one victim and four years for the other, to run consecutively.

“There has not been, and doubtless will not be, one word of regret, apology or shame from this man to at least provide his victims with some crumb of comfort,” the judge said.

Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted her husband’s offenses for witnessing the abuse and doing nothing to intervene. Because of mental health issues, she faced only a fact-finding hearing that couldn’t result in a conviction.

The two victims testified that Donaldson groped them when they were around primary school age. The older of the two, referred to in court as Complainant B, said that he raped her.

The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and U.K. law protects their identities from the media for life.

During his trial, Donaldson denied all the allegations against him. He testified that the rape “just didn’t happen.”

Catherine Kierans, the head of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland's Serious Crime Unit, said that Donaldson “has never accepted responsibility for his offending, nor shown any remorse.”

“This case shows that sexual abuse can be hidden behind a facade of respectability,” she said. “It also shows that no individual, irrespective of their position, status or public reputation, is beyond the reach of the law.”

The victims welcomed the sentence, but said nothing could undo the damage of Donaldson's crimes.

“My childhood was stolen from me and I will never get it back,” victim A said in a statement read by a police officer outside court.

“The conviction does not erase the abuse or undo the impact of what happened to me, and I will always carry the consequences of it.

“But those responsible do not control me now. They forever changed me, but they will not take my future. The cycle is being broken and it ends with me.”

Victim B said that “what happened to me as a child has affected everything since then, every day and every relationship I have ever had.

“I stood up, many years later, because for me this is about drawing a line in the sand and knowing that the Donaldsons can no longer hurt anyone else,” she said.

Donaldson’s lawyer, Kieran Vaughan, said at a presentencing hearing that his client had achieved “significant things in his life.”

“These convictions obliterate all those achievements he has made in his life,” he said.

FILE - Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson speaks to the media during a press conference at Hinch Distillery, Temple, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)