Herndon, Virginia (January 24, 2021) — HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation-flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, today announced that Cluster 2 — the company’s second cluster of satellites — has successfully been deployed into orbit.

After launching aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 this Sunday morning, the trio of satellites was dispensed from Spaceflight Inc.’s Sherpa-FX orbital transfer vehicle and has established communications with the HawkEye 360 satellite operations center. In the weeks ahead, the satellites will be fully tested, commissioned, and moved into their final formation needed to detect, characterize and geolocate RF signals.

“The expansion of our pioneering constellation is the first of several strong steps we have planned to multiply our existing capabilities and explore new possibilities for RF geospatial intelligence,” said CEO John Serafini. “We are proud to be the leading provider of RF insights to U.S. government, international governments, commercial and humanitarian interests, and we believe our newest deployment, which increases the frequency, quality and quantity of insights we are able to deliver, will be an invaluable resource for our customers.”

The company processes and analyzes RF signal data collected by the satellites to deliver actionable insights and a unique layer of knowledge for national security operations, maritime domain awareness, environmental protection and numerous additional applications.

Cluster 2 follows the company’s first Pathfinder cluster of satellites, launched two years ago, but is significantly more powerful. The new satellites can process data at a faster rate — leading to increased geolocations with an even greater degree of accuracy — and are equipped with new software-defined radios (SDR) that can simultaneously collect signals from a wide range of frequencies. These workhorse satellites provide significant capacity increases to meet the demand for robust space-based RF data and analytics required by HawkEye 360’s customers.

“Our first satellites were a tremendous success — a perfect proof of concept of the value and utility of this type of geospatial intelligence,” said COO Rob Rainhart. “But these new satellites will supercharge our offerings to customers, with revisit rates and data collection an order of magnitude greater than before. Our engineers and partners have raised the bar, delivering the most capable commercial RF satellites ever built into orbit.”

HawkEye 360 will launch five additional clusters (15 satellites) over the next 18 months to establish our initial baseline constellation. Once fully deployed, the company’s constellation will have a global revisit rate of less than an hour to support time-sensitive monitoring of active and developing situations.

For more information on the HawkEye 360 satellite constellation and enhanced capabilities of HawkEye Cluster 2, please visit https://www.he360.com/technology/constellation/.

About Hawkeye 360

HawkEye 360 is delivering a revolutionary source of global knowledge based on radio frequency (RF) geospatial intelligence to those working to make the world a safer place. The company operates the first-of-its-kind commercial satellite constellation to identify and geolocate a broad range of RF signals. This unique data feeds powerful analytical products that equip our global customers with visibility and insights to make decisions with confidence. HawkEye 360 is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.

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Herndon, Virginia (July 16, 2020) — HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, today announced it has successfully completed environmental testing of its second cluster of three satellites. This significant milestone for HawkEye Cluster 2 clears the way to prepare for launch, which is scheduled for late 2020. HawkEye Cluster 2 will join the company’s first cluster of satellites that were launched in December 2018, doubling the size of HawkEye 360’s constellation. This is the first cluster in a series of next generation satellites that will improve revisit rates and bring increasingly robust RF data insights to US and international customers to inform their decision-making processes.

HawkEye 360 has five more clusters of satellites fully financed and under development for launch in 2021 and early 2022. This growing constellation identifies and precisely geolocates a broad set of RF signals from emitters such as VHF marine radios, UHF push-to-talk radios, maritime radar systems, AIS beacons, L-band satellite devices, emergency beacons and more. HawkEye 360 processes and analyzes this data using proprietary algorithms and machine-learning tools to deliver actionable insights to customers.

HawkEye Cluster 2 features significant advancements:

• Improved Capability: The satellites contain a new and improved software-defined radio (SDR) that can tune to a wide range of frequencies and gather higher-resolution signal data to deliver quality results to customers.
• Greater Accuracy: With powerful updated on-board computing, the satellites can process data at a faster rate, leading to increased geolocations with an even greater degree of accuracy, so customers receive the best possible RF geospatial intelligence.
• Simultaneous Collection: The satellites can simultaneously collect multiple signals over a single region for enhanced analytics that help customers make more informed decisions.

“HawkEye 360’s investment to advance the field of space-based RF geoanalytics isn’t just about defense and intelligence missions, but it’s also about protecting our global commons by identifying and tracking illicit activities such as illegal fishing, human trafficking, and animal poaching,” said HawkEye 360’s Chief Executive, Officer John Serafini. “In just 18 months, our first cluster has tracked 20 million geolocations and signals of interest to feed growing demand from civil service and defense clients around the world. The successful environmental testing of our HawkEye Cluster 2 satellites brings us one step closer to our goal of a fully operational constellation that will transform invisible signals into insights that make the world a safer place.”

HawkEye 360 built the RF payloads, which UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) integrated into the satellite bus. SFL conducted the environmental testing efforts, which included vibration, thermal vacuum, and electromagnetic interference testing. These tests simulate the environment the satellites will encounter in space. The next step is to prepare the satellites for launch integration.

“Each new cluster increases HawkEye 360’s capacity to collect more data that we can then process, analyze and deliver as relevant and robust data insights,” said HawkEye 360’s Chief Operating Officer, Rob Rainhart. “The highly advanced HawkEye Cluster 2 satellites can capture multiple signal layers at once to create a more accurate and detailed visual of activity and then bring that data down in a shorter period of time for our customers’ benefit.”

For more information on the HawkEye Cluster 2 satellites and enhanced capabilities, please visit https://www.he360.com/technology/constellation/.

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