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BlackSky inks $50 million deal to supply imagery services and satellites to Indonesia

February 8, 2024

BlackSky, an Earth observation and data analytics firm, will provide satellite imagery services and imaging spacecraft to the Republic of Indonesia under a $50 million deal announced Feb. 8.

BlackSky will work with Thales Alenia Space to establish the building blocks of a sovereign Earth imaging satellite network tailored to Indonesia’s national security needs.

Thales Alenia Space was selected in December to deliver a dedicated Earth observation constellation to the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, combining both radar and optical sensors.

Under the multi-year agreement, Jakarta will gain access to BlackSky’s high-revisit imagery and analytics and will own two of BlackSky’s next-generation Earth observation satellites. The satellites represent the beginning of a future constellation that could include a mix of imaging satellites provided by BlackSky and others built by Thales Alenia.

BlackSky operates a constellation of 16 electro-optical imaging satellites.

Thales Alenia Space and BlackSky will work under contract to PT Len Industri, Indonesia’s state-owned defense company, which selected the European firm to construct the satellite system.

Agreement bundles services and hardware

BlackSky under a separate contract from PT Len is supplying Indonesia’s MoD imagery and analytics services. The new agreement bundles services, hardware and ground-systems software.

Thales Alenia Space — a joint venture between the French technology firm Thales Group and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo — was an early investor in BlackSky. Thales Alenia and BlackSky are co-owners of LeoStella, a satellite manufacturer based in Seattle that produces spacecraft for BlackSky and other customers.

Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky, characterized the partnership with Indonesia as a model for how governments can harness commercial innovation rather than spend billions of dollars and decades developing indigenous platforms.

“We are seeing tremendous demand from international governments looking to rapidly acquire the benefits of space-based information,” O’Toole told SpaceNews. “This partnership helps Indonesia secure leading remote sensing capabilities today rather than wait years attempting to establish a sovereign satellite infrastructure.”

O’Toole said Indonesia’s program reflects a growing trend of allied governments integrating commercial satellite imagery into defense planning and operations.

BlackSky expects to deliver two third-generation electro-optical imaging satellites to the Indonesian MoD in about two years, O’Toole said. Thales Alenia Space will develop the synthetic aperture radar satellites.

The company’s current constellation is made up of Gen-2 satellites that provide 1-meter resolution imagery. The Gen-3 version will produce sharper 50-centimeter resolution imagery. The Gen-3 satellites also have dual optical-infrared sensors that allow for imaging at night and in low-light conditions.

Indonesia has not disclosed how many satellites it intends to buy. O’Toole said BlackSky hopes to get more orders. “We expect that over time, they will continue to add more of their own satellites, either from us or from Thales into a very robust sovereign system.”

“This is the start of a long-term relationship with these types of customers,” he said, “where we’re integral to their architecture and evolution, not just leveraging the satellites, but leveraging our software and AI.”

https://spacenews.com/blacksky-inks-50-million-deal-to-supply-imagery-services-and-satellites-to-indonesia/

RELEASE THE X-FILES I’m the ex-Pentagon UFO chief & I was GAGGED from revealing ‘alien’ secrets – the bombshell files must be released

Updated: 13:29, 9 Feb 2024

Sean Kirkpatrick, the former director of the US Department of Defence's UFO task force, demanded a whole range of bombshell files be released so the public can truly see what is going on.

He said his bosses within the Pentagon stopped him speaking the truth to the public on multiple occasions, despite him having evidence to support his findings.

The physicist, who served as the UFO chief for a year, said he felt that his department wasn’t allowed to reveal enough information about mysterious aircraft.

Dr Kirkpatrick explained: “There was a very strong concern to engage in the public discourse as often as I thought we needed to.

“The fact that they (the Pentagon leadership) can’t figure out how to get at that message without concern for spillage into other areas has always been a frustrating point.”

He also felt that the US government’s efforts to investigate apparent UFO sightings should've been laid out clearer.

Dr Kirkpatrick had concerns that conspiracy theorists would take the hesitation in talking about extraterrestrial life to mean their theories were at least partially true.

He feared the lack of information being passed on to the public would only help to promote unproven agendas.

He said: "If there is a void in the information space, it will be filled with the imagination of the public."

Another massive claim made by the ex-chief was that he was stifled and gagged at press conferences to keep what his team had uncovered a secret.

However, the Pentagon categorically denies any of Dr Kirkpatrick's claims saying he was always allowed to say what he wanted.

Spokesperson Eric Pahon added: "Standard procedure within the department is to have public engagements cleared by higher officials.

"To our knowledge, any media engagement Dr Kirkpatrick recommended or requested was approved."

"Dr. Kirkpatrick’s commitment to transparency with the United States Congress and the American public on UAP leaves a legacy the department will carry forward."

The chief was made to step down in December 2023, following his stark warning of concerning activity "in our backyard".

“We’ve got a package of a lot of new material that we’ve got ready for release," he said.

"We’ve uncovered some things that we are having declassified. Not just operational videos, but historical documents."

Kirkpatrick described the information he had as “educational material that will help inform the public.”

During his time with the Pentagon, Dr Kirkpatrick was allowed to share spectacular declassified footage of the exact size and shape of the UFOs experts are "hunting" for.

He revealed that the majority of UFOs spotted are metallic spherical orbs.

They are usually seen at an altitude between 10,000ft and 30,000ft, and up to four metres in size.

The Pentagon also released a blockbuster 1,574 pages of real-life X-Files in 2022, related to its secretive UFO programme.

The haul includes reports into research on the biological effects of UFO sightings on humans, sets out categorisations for paranormal experiences, and studies into sci-fi-style tech.

The DIA, the Department of Defence's spy arm, said "some portions" of the documents "must be withheld in part" due to privacy and confidentiality concerns.

But the agency added the "DIA has not withheld any reasonably segregable non-exempt portions of the records".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25824836/pentagon-ufo-chief-gagged-revealing-alien-secrets-bombshell-files/

Mysterious black helicopters 'retrieved UFO shot down by USAF near Alaska'

17:15, 8 FEB 2024

A UFO whistleblower claims mysterious black helicopters swooped in and retrieved a "UFO" shot down by USAF jets.

Just under a year ago, fighter jets shot down an unidentified “cylindrical” object some 10 miles off the frozen coast of Alaska.

At the time pilots sent up to examine the object gave conflicting accounts of what they saw, but US President Joe Biden later told reporters that the downed object was probably a civilian-owned balloon and "most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions”.

But now a UFO whistleblower has revealed new details of the operation – sensationally claiming that Biden was concealing the truth about the operation. Australian journalist Ross Coulthart claims to have new information about the "anomalous” object from a Pentagon insider.

"A source has just contacted me confidentially to confirm something that I first spoke about a month or two ago," he said on his Need to Know podcast. "We talked about the Alaska UAP object and I said definitively that sources of mine were telling me that the Alaska object was anomalous.

“But I've just received this – the Pentagon tracked the Alaska object confirmed that it was a silver cylindrical UAP and not a balloon. President Joe Biden ordered the shoot-down and multiple assets were involved with the recovery. HC-130s, F-16s for cover and OGA black helicopters – that's a direct quote from somebody who has a source in the Pentagon."

OGA is a catch-all term for “other government agencies” which is usually taken to mean the CIA and other security services.

Coulthart says that the description of the operation is “a direct quote from somebody who has a source in the Pentagon and he says that he is 100% certain of this account”.

A Pentagon spokesman, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, told reporters at the time that the object represented "a reasonable threat to air traffic," and had therefore been shot down on President Biden's direct order.

US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said that the object was "much, much smaller than the spy balloon that we took down last Saturday" – referring to the 200ft Chinese spy balloon – and was "about the size of a small car".

At the time of the incident, UFO hunters were sharing online video footage of what appeared to be black helicopters hovering over the Alaska coastline.

US officials said it should be easier to retrieve pieces of the object from the ice than it would have been to recover the large Chinese surveillance balloon that had been shot down in the first week of February 2023. A Department of Defense official said it broke into pieces.

A Pentagon spokesman said on the same day that recovery teams were collecting the debris on top of the ice. US divers and unmanned underwater vehicles had also reportedly retrieved additional debris.

Brigadier General Ryder later announced that The Alaska National Guard, alongside units under US Northern Command, along with HC-130 Hercules, HH-60 Pave Hawk, and CH-47 Chinook had all been participating in the effort to recover the object.

However on February 18, 2023, Pentagon officials announced that that the search had been abandoned. Some pilots involved in the shoot-down reported that the object had “interfered with their sensors” on the planes,

The Pentagon and the White House declined to give a detailed description of the object, saying only that "It wasn't an aircraft per se.”

The object was said to be was far smaller than the Chinese balloon, which had been described by Chinese government as a civilian meteorological research airship that had been blown off course..

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/mysterious-black-helicopters-retrieved-ufo-32079513