BlackSky’s new Gen-3 imagery of the Port of Jebel Ali in Dubai. Photo: BlackSky

BlackSky reports it has secured multiple expansion contracts for its Gen-3 satellite program from customers in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Customers who worked with the company for early access pilot programs are turning into renewal deals, BlackSky said. 

The company did not name specific customers in the Tuesday announcement. 

BlackSky began launching its upgraded Gen-3 satellites in early 2025, with the latest Gen-3 satellite launched in November. The Gen-3 satellites are designed to deliver 35-centimeter imagery with sub-hourly image collection speeds.

The company noted this expansion in international deals aligns with global trends in defense spending. In a financial report last year, BlackSky reported that 85% of its funded backlog was from international customers.

“BlackSky’s reliable high-cadence, low-latency Gen-3 monitoring services continue to gain global traction, accelerating our most demanding customers’ ability to attain rapid insight during time-critical operations,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “These deals represent strong retention among BlackSky’s stable and growing international customer base as rapid time-dominant nature of geopolitical tensions continues to favor our AI-forward space technology solutions.”

O’Toole added that customers are prioritizing time-sensitive imagery and analytics.