Rendering of a BlackSky satellite. Photo: BlackSky

BlackSky Technology won a competitive U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract to build an automated target recognition service that can track vehicles in real time from space. The contract announced Monday is an AFWERX Direct to Phase 2 contract, funded by the Space Development Agency. AFWERX is the innovation arm of the Air Force. 

According to BlackSky, the automated target recognition service will gather and combine radio frequency and electro-optical satellite sensor data to track mobile assets. It will also distribute this intelligence to devices and analysts worldwide. BlackSky will use its existing satellite imagery and analysis platform for this work. 

“The company’s rapid-revisit capabilities and leading innovations in automated detection give customers an opportunity to conduct ISR operations from space,” commented BlackSky CTO Patrick O’Neil. 

BlackSky has more than $200 million year-to-date in contracts in 2023. The company is also preparing to launch the first satellites in its third generation.