Commercial remote sensing satellite and data provider HawkEye 360 on Monday said it acquired the RF Solutions business from Maxar Intelligence, a deal that adds two existing radio frequency satellites to its constellation that cover a broader frequency range and potentially open new markets.
Acquisition terms were not disclosed. Maxar Intelligence formed RF Solutions following its acquisition of Aurora Insight in January 2023. Maxar Intelligence is part of Maxar Technologies.
In addition to the satellites, the RF Solutions business has a database of RF collections ranging from 1.4 gigahertz to 40 GHz, and intellectual property related to RF scanning.
The acquisition brings HawkEye’s RF satellite constellation to 23 spacecraft and the company is planning to launch 12 more in 2024. The two satellites, Charlie and Delta, expand HawkEye’s frequency coverage to include 26 to 40 gigahertz, giving its customers more insight into the RF signal activity regionally.
“Our existing satellites do very well at precise geolocation and characterization of signals,” Rob Rainhart, HawkEye’s president, said in a statement. “This technology from the former Aurora Insight team will allow HawkEye 360 to quickly scan gigahertz of bandwidth to efficiently map frequencies at a regional level.”
RF Solutions says its data helps telecommunications companies obtain insights on deployments of new networks and equipment that emits RF signals, and service and investment decisions. The business also has a contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for commercial RF remote sensing, providing data on LTE, 5G, satellite communications, radars, GPS, and other types of signals.
HawkEye, Kleos Space, and Spire Global [SPIR] also have commercial RF remote sensing contracts with the NRO.
“We see meaningful business potential for this wideband scanning mission to accelerate our discovery of new signals and expand our capacity to service government intelligence users,” Patrick Zeitouni, chief strategy officer for HawkEye, said in a statement. “This acquisition will enable the exploration of new market segments, including the potential to support the burgeoning needs of commercial telecommunication operators.”
The new data that RF Solutions provides HawkEye will allow it to “understand changing patterns, which frequencies in which parts of the world are very active, which frequencies are quiet except for occasional spikes of energy, and where there might be interfering signals,” the company told Defense Daily in an email reply to questions about its new capabilities. “This can tip HawkEye 360 to deploy the more precise Hawk satellites to characterize and geolocate any unique signal activity.”
HawkEye refers to each of its satellites as a Hawk.
Maxar Intelligence said the sale of RF Solutions streamlines its portfolio hones its focus on solutions that integrate its electro-optical satellite imaging data and geospatial analytics with third-party data.
“We remain deeply committed to developing mission-focused multisource intelligence solutions and will continue to identify opportunities to integrate complementary RF data into our products,” Maxar Intelligence said in a statement.