Spaceflight Industries closes deal with Japanese companies

BlackSky Global not part of the deal, as previously announced.

Published June 12, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries Inc. — which has a Herndon location — announced Friday it has officially sold its satellite rideshare business to Tokyo-based Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Chiba, Japan-based Yamasa Co. Ltd.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The sale was first announced in February and passed a review by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews national security implications of foreign investments. Although the company said in February that it would use the capital from the sale to grow BlackSky Global LLC, its geospatial intelligence business, Spaceflight said Friday that BlackSky was not part of the Mitsui transaction and operates as a private U.S. company. BlackSky collects and distributes images and data from its satellites in orbit to clients.

“The sale of the Spaceflight rideshare business to Mitsui reinforces the value and success of our rideshare business and its incredible team,” Brian O’Toole, president of Spaceflight Industries and CEO of BlackSky, said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time for both Spaceflight and BlackSky as each company continues to focus on the execution of their specific missions and strategic goals.”

Spaceflight Industries will continue to focus on BlackSky business following the transaction.

“The funds secured through this transaction will be reinvested in BlackSky to capitalize on what we see is an expanding market opportunity in global monitoring,” O’Toole said in a statement.

Founded in 1999, Spaceflight Industries has launched 271 satellites since its inception. The company purchases satellite capacity and sells rideshare services on commercial launch vehicles.