BlackSky’s constellation will have 60 high resolution small satellites that provide frequent revisit rates over 95 percent of the Earth’s population. Photo: Spaceflight Industries.

The Space Alliance, formed by Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio, today signed a partnership with Spaceflight Industries to accelerate development of the BlackSky geospatial platform. Per the agreement, The Space Alliance will pursue a minority investment in Spaceflight Industries; create an industrial joint venture between Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries specialized in the production of small satellites; and implement a joint cooperation and marketing agreement between Telespazio and BlackSky.

Thales Alenia Space, Spaceflight Industries and Telespazio are combining their strengths to offer a constellation of small satellites that will be deployed in conjunction with a smart ground segment to offer services at competitive prices by calling on massive and automated data/image processing. According to the three parties, the result is a disruptive product designed not only for traditional customers in the commercial observation market, but also to support the development of new vertical Business-to-Business (B2B) markets such as mining, energy, transport, finance, agriculture, and industry and environment.

“This partnership reflects the NewSpace transformation strategy being implemented by Thales Alenia Space, with the ultimate aim of becoming a major manufacturer of small observation satellites constellations featuring short revisit times, both in Europe and the United States,” said Jean-Loic Galle, president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Thales Alenia Space.

“This partnership with two leaders in the European space industry accelerates our BlackSky business plan by funding our constellation, minimizing our constellation production risk, and reducing our time to market within key market segments,” added Jason Andrews, chairman and CEO of Spaceflight Industries.