Seattle, Washington-based space technology and services provider Spaceflight Industries has bought Herndon, Virginia-based geospatial analytics company OpenWhere for an undisclosed sum as part of efforts to accelerate the deployment of Spaceflight’s BlackSky satellite imaging platform.Spaceflight said Tuesday it aims to build a constellation of up to 60 satellites through 2020 to provide near-real-time images of the planet to clients in the government, academic and commercial sectors.
Jason Andrews, CEO of Spaceflight Industries, noted that OpenWhere designed its geospatial data platform to help customers interact with satellite imagery.
Spaceflight also raised $18 million from a recent Series B financing round led by San Francisco, California-based technology investment firm Mithril Capital Management.
Investors RRE Venture Capital, Vulcan Capital and Razor’s Edge Ventures also joined the venture round, which increases the aerospace company’s total amount raised to $53.5 million to date.
“The additional financing will help us execute on additional strategic initiatives, including this acquisition of OpenWhere, ” Andrews added.
The General Services Administration awarded Spaceflight a position on the agency’s consolidated professional services contract vehicle in February, allowing the company to offer small-satellite launch services to the federal government.
The United Nations’ Institute for Training and Research also partnered with the company to study the potential use of imaging technology in humanitarian relief, climate change adaptation, sustainable water management, territorial management, peacekeeping missions,  maritime activity monitoring and human security missions.
