Shares of Earth-imaging satellites company BlackSky Technology (BKSY -0.50%) soared 13.5% through 3 p.m. ET Thursday -- probably because of a couple of tweets posted on X announcing BlackSky's plans to present at the upcoming Space Defense and Security Summit on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and at World Space Business Week in Paris on Sept. 18.
These are probably the reasons BlackSky stock is up today. But they're not the thing I'm focusing on.
Image source: Getty Images.
BlackSky's big VR moment
If you ask me, a much bigger development for BlackSky was announced three days ago, when SatNews.com reported that BlackSky is partnering with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) specialist Iceye, as well as with Aechelon Technology, Distance Technologies, and Niantic Spatial on something called Project Orbion.
Project Orbion aims to create a virtual "live digital twin of the Earth" that can be used as a "Visual Positioning System" alternative to global positioning satellites to guide aircraft, drones, and missiles in areas where GPS has been "denied" by jamming. Such a 3D virtual Earth would also have nonmilitary uses such as monitoring wildfires, floods, and shipping routes.
Essentially, Project Orbion would integrate a whole host of Earth observation data provided by companies like BlackSky and Iceye, and put it all in one digital place where it can be easily manipulated and observed.
Is BlackSky stock a buy?
Granted, big as this news sounds, I'm not sure if it's big enough to turn BlackSky stock into a buy, exactly. The company hasn't ever earned a profit, nor generated positive free cash flow. It's not expected to earn a profit before 2027 at the earliest, and free cash flow probably won't arrive before 2028.
Until one of those happens, I consider BlackSky stock speculative at best.
