As you’ve probably seen in the news recently, an Ariane 5 launch of Brazilian and South Korean telecommunications satellites has been delayed several times due to increasing labor strife in French Guiana.
News coverage today is instantaneous, and using it to complement satellite data increases our understanding of events as they happen. BlackSky Events, a new service we will be launching soon, employs machine learning, predictive algorithms and natural language processing techniques to triangulate relevant global events, like news coverage and social media posts about these union strikes, in time and space. The platform analyzes all this data based and alerts you of critical events related to your area of interest – enabling you to take immediate action.
For example, we know from the news feeds that labor strikes directly hit the launch facility near Kourou, even delaying the transport of the rocket from the staging area (at the bottom of screenshot below) to the launch pad (on the top of screenshot). Now there are reports that a general strike has been called across the country and foreign nationals are being warned to leave the country or avoid travel to French Guiana. It’s unclear when the launch will take place given the ongoing delays.
With all of this information brought together and available in real time, you’re able to make well-informed decisions.