Geospatial intelligence provider BlackSky is now offering remote access to the company’s global monitoring services and satellite imaging.
The company said its telework tools are cyber secure and allow analysts to develop intelligence reports and share unclassified information. Users of the BlackSky service draw intelligence from a combination of remote sensing satellite images, environmental sensors, asset tracking sensors, IoT systems, local foreign news, social media, industry publications and financial reports. The information is analyzed with machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques.
BlackSky’s telework package, called Spectra On-Demand Secure Bundle, was designed for intelligence analysts who handle unclassified but still sensitive information and can be accessed online from any computer.
BlackSky CEO, Brian O’Toole, noted that, given the coronavirus pandemic, intelligence analysts, financial analysts and researchers are seeking solutions that allow teams to continue critical security and intelligence projects while working remotely.
Scott Herman, BlackSky’s CTO, stated that a significant portion of our workforce works from home. We’ve been longtime adopters of a lot of these collaborative tools. Many of the company’s customers across U.S. national security and intelligence agencies are used to working in secure facilities. After the pandemic hit, suddenly they found themselves having to telework and realized they didn’t have remote access to data or tools needed to do their jobs, and they had security concerns, he said, adding that the company is providing access to the firm’s satellites for tasking as well as providing access to other satellites for tasking and archiving data plus a wide range of sensors used for global monitoring.The services also include training on the methodology involved in capturing data. Analysts still have to go to secure facilities to work with classified information but much of their unclassified work can be done from home.
BlackSky has four satellites in operation and plans to launch eight more satellites later this year.
