BlackSky Awarded $99M Air Force Contract for Next-Gen Space Imaging
74 FOMOThe U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded BlackSky Geospatial Solutions a $99 million IDIQ Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract on March 6, 2026 to develop a large-aperture optical imaging system testbed for future space-based intelligence missions. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia through March 2032. The payload design centers on a segmented primary mirror architecture, precision laser metrology and mirror positioning, and large-format focal plane arrays — technologies that enable very high-resolution imagery at lower cost than traditional monolithic optics. The award is separate from BlackSky's existing Gen-3 constellation and its planned AROS wide-area search satellite.
Why it matters
Segmented-mirror space optics have been a DARPA-funded research dream for decades. An SBIR Phase III award to a commercial EO company to build a testbed is a meaningful bet that commercial vertical integration can compress the cost curve for intel-grade apertures.
Coverage
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spacenews.com ·
Air Force Lab Awards BlackSky Contract Worth Up to $99M for Large Optical Satellite PayloadAFRL's Center for Rapid Innovation awarded BlackSky a sole-source SBIR Phase III IDIQ contract capped at $99M to develop a segmented-mirror large-aperture optical imaging testbed. Initial obligation is $2.1M; additional task orders will fund development through 2032. Satellites built under the program will also serve as on-orbit data storage and processing hubs compatible with emerging orbital data centers.
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The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded BlackSky Geospatial Solutions a $99 million IDIQ Smal