BlackSky confirms it was the ‘confidential customer’ on recent Rocket Lab Electron rocket launch

Earth observation company BlackSky revealed it was the ‘confidential customer’ whose satellite flew on a recent Rocket Lab Electron rocket. A BlackSky spokesperson confirmed to Spaceflight Now on Tuesday that its Gen-3 satellite was the payload onboard.

The mission, dubbed ‘Follow My Speed’ by Rocket Lab, lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 1:43 a.m. NZT on Nov. 21 (7:43 a.m. EST / 1243 UTC on Nov. 20). This was Rocket Lab’s 18th launch so far in 2025 and its 76th Electron launch to date.

Leading up to the mission’s launch and during the broadcast, the company referred to the payload owner simply as a “confidential commercial customer.”

After the satellite was deployed, the U.S. Space Force cataloged it into a 468 x 477 km orbit at a 42 degree inclination. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and expert orbital tracker, noted on X (formerly Twitter) that this orbital position “has previously been used by Electron from BlackSky, QPS and Strix launches.”

BlackSky added clarity to the mystery on Tuesday when it published a press release announcing that it was able to get its “first very high-resolution images from the company’s third Gen-3 satellite less than 24 hours following the satellite’s successful launch in November.” The release itself didn’t specifically mention Rocket Lab or its Electron rocket by name.

In its release, company shared an image of the Port of Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, captured during the morning of Nov. 22.

“BlackSky’s third Gen-3 unit has delivered incredible initial image quality at unprecedented speed — less than one day from launch,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “Customers no longer have to wait months typically associated with traditional commissioning timelines. BlackSky’s rapid commissioning process places tasking capacity into customers’ hands quickly and increases the overall operational life of each satellite as they come online sooner.”

BlackSky didn’t state why it wanted the launch to occur without identifying itself ahead of deployment. The first two Gen-3 satellites were launched on other Electron rockets during the ‘Fasten Your Space Belts’ and the ‘Full Stream Ahead’ missions on Feb. 18 and June 2 respectively.

This was the third of the Gen-3 satellites to head into low Earth orbit for BlackSky. Earlier in the month, the company announced a more than $30 million multi-year contract “to integrate Gen-3 high-cadence tactical ISR services into a strategic international defense customer’s secure environment.”

That international customer wasn’t named by BlackSky, but said the satellites’ capabilities allow for “enhanced AI-driven detection, identification and classification of a broad collection of vehicles, aircraft, vessels and other objects of tactical interest” for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.