Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
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| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basis of Presentation |
Basis of Preparation
The Company has prepared its unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. In addition, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the Company’s proportionate share of the earnings or losses of its equity method investments and a corresponding increase or decrease to its investments, with recorded losses limited to the carrying value of the Company’s investments. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated upon consolidation. The Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a historical cost basis, except for certain financial assets and liabilities, including derivative financial instruments, which are stated at fair value. Unless otherwise indicated, amounts presented in the Notes pertain to the Company’s continuing operations.
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| Use of Estimates |
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingencies at the reporting date, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of current events and actions the Company may undertake in the future. Actual results could materially differ from these estimates. Significant estimates made by the Company include, but are not limited to, revenue and associated cost recognition, the collectability of accounts receivable, the recoverability and useful lives of property and equipment, the valuation of equity warrants and warrant liabilities, fair value estimates, the recoverability of goodwill and intangible assets, the provision for income taxes, the incremental borrowing rate to measure the operating lease right of use assets, the effective interest rate of the vendor financing agreement, and stock-based compensation.
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| Investments |
Investments
The Company invests in short-term investments, which generally consist of A-1, or higher, rated corporate debt and governmental securities. The investments are classified as held-to-maturity and have a stated maturity date of one year or less from the balance sheet date. Any investments with original maturities less than three months are considered cash equivalents.
As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s short-term investments had a carrying value of $7.1 million and $19.7 million, respectively, which represents amortized cost, and an aggregate fair value of $7.1 million and $19.7 million, respectively, which represents a Level 1 measurement based off of the fair value hierarchy.
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| Equity Method Investments |
Equity Method Investments
Investments where the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and are included in investment in equity method investees on the Company's unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. Significant influence typically exists if the Company has a 20% to 50% ownership voting interest in the investee or retains a voting seat on the investee's board of directors. In evaluating whether the Company has significant influence, the Company considers the nature of its ownership interest in the investee, as well as other factors that may give the Company the ability to exercise significant influence over the investee's operating and capital financial policies. Under this method of accounting, the Company's share of the net earnings or losses of the investee are included in the Company's
unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income. The Company did not recognize any percentage of LeoStella's estimated net loss during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 since its investment in LeoStella was $0 as of December 31, 2023. The investment in LeoStella was $0 in the Company's unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2024. The Company currently accounts for its LeoStella joint venture as its only equity method investment. The investment in LeoStella is not significant to the financial statements.
Intra-entity profits arising from the sale of assets from the equity method investments to the Company are eliminated and deferred if those assets are still held by the Company at the end of the reporting period. The intra-entity profits will be recognized as the assets are consumed. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had differences between the carrying value of its equity method investment and the underlying equity in the net assets of the investee of $0.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively. Equity method investments are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of such investments may be impaired. If a decline in the value of an equity method investment is determined to be other than temporary, a loss is recorded in earnings in the current period.
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| Debt Issuance Costs and Debt Discount |
Debt Issuance Costs and Debt Discount
Debt issuance costs are capitalized and amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over the life of the related debt. Short-term and long-term debt are presented net of the unamortized debt issuance costs and debt discount in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets.
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| Fair Value of Financial Instruments |
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company accounts for certain assets and liabilities at fair value. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.
The process for analyzing the fair value measurement of certain financial instruments on a recurring, or non-recurring, basis includes significant judgment and estimates of inputs including, but not limited to, share price, volatility, discount for lack of marketability, application of an appropriate discount rate, and probability of liquidating events. The Company utilizes the market valuation methodology and specific option pricing methodology, such as the Monte Carlo simulation, to value the more complex financial instruments and the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to value standard common stock warrants and common stock options.
The framework for measuring fair value specifies a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on whether the inputs to those valuation techniques are observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect the Company's assumptions. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement).
The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:
Level 1 Inputs. Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities available at the measurement date.
Level 2 Inputs. Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable, and inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data.
Level 3 Inputs. Inputs are unobservable inputs which reflect the Company’s own assumptions on what assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on the best available information.
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| Revenue Recognition |
Revenue Recognition
The Company generates revenue from the sale of imagery and software analytical services and professional and engineering services. Imagery and software analytical services revenue, which is mostly from contracts from domestic and international government agencies, includes imagery, data, software, and analytics. This revenue is primarily recognized from services rendered under non-cancellable subscription order agreements or, in limited circumstances, variable not-to-exceed purchase orders. Professional and engineering services revenue is generated from time and materials basis, firm fixed price service solutions, and firm fixed price long-term engineering and construction contracts.
In accordance with Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” (“ASC 606”), the Company uses the five-step model of identifying the contract with a customer, identifying the performance obligations contained in a contract, determining the transaction price, allocating the transaction price, and determining when performance obligations are satisfied, which can require the application of significant judgment, as further discussed below.
Revenue is measured at the fair value of consideration received or receivable and net of discounts. The Company applies a policy election to exclude transaction taxes collected from customer sales when the tax is both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction. The Company estimates any variable consideration, and whether the transaction price is constrained, upon execution of each contract. The Company did not have any active contracts with significant variable consideration as of September 30, 2024.
Imagery & Software Analytical Services Revenue
Imagery
Imagery services include imagery delivered from the Company’s proprietary satellite constellation and Spectra software platform and in limited cases directly uploaded to certain customers. Customers can directly task the Company's proprietary satellite constellation to collect and deliver imagery over specific locations, sites and regions that are critical to their operations. The Company offers customers several service level subscription options that include on-demand tasking or multi-year assured access programs, where customers can secure priority access and imaging capacity at a premium over a region of interest on a take or pay basis. Imagery revenue is recognized ratably over the subscription period based on the promise to continuously provide contractual satellite capacity for tasked imagery or analytics at the discretion of the customer.
Data, Software, and Analytics
The Company leverages proprietary AI and ML algorithms to analyze data coming from both the Company’s proprietary sensor network and third-party space and terrestrial sources to provide hard-to-get data, insights, and analytics for customers. The Company continues to integrate and enhance its offerings by performing contract development, while retaining the intellectual property rights. The Company also offers services related to object, change and anomaly detection, site monitoring, and enhanced analytics, through which the Company can detect key pattern of life changes in critical locations such as ports, airports, and construction sites; retail activity; commodities stockpiles; and other sites that contain critical commodities and supply chain inventory.
The Company's analytics services are also offered on a similar subscription basis and provide customers with access to the Company's site monitoring, event monitoring and global data services. Analogous with the recognition of revenue for imagery, software analytical services revenue is recognized ratably over the subscription period.
Professional and Engineering Services Revenue
The Company performs various professional services, that are highly-interrelated, including providing technology enabled professional service solutions to support customer-specific software development requests, integration, testing, and training. The Company also provides engineering services, which include developing and delivering advanced satellite and payload systems for a limited number of customers that leverage the Company’s capabilities in mission systems engineering and operations, ground station operations, and software and systems development. These services, based on the context of the contract, are capable of being distinct performance obligations.
For firm fixed price professional and engineering service contracts, the Company recognizes revenue over time using the cost-to-complete method to measure progress to complete the performance obligation ("Estimate at Completion" or "EAC"). A performance obligation's EAC includes all direct costs such as labor, fringe, materials, subcontract costs and overhead. Significant judgment is used to estimate total costs at completion on a contract by contract basis including, but not limited to, labor productivity, program schedule, technical risk analysis, complexity, scope of the work to be performed and other identified risks. Due to the continuous nature of the work, as well as when a change in circumstances warrants a modification, the EAC is reviewed and may result in cumulative changes to the contract profit. The Company recognizes changes in estimated contract sales or costs and the resulting changes in contract profit on a cumulative basis in the period in which the change is identified. If, at any time, the estimate of contract profitability indicates a probable anticipated loss on the contract, the Company recognizes the total loss as and when known. The following table presents the effect of aggregate net EAC adjustments on the Company's professional and engineering services contracts:
(1) For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company had a favorable EAC adjustment of $1.2 million for an existing individual professional services contract. The remaining EAC adjustments are not individually significant to the Company.
(2) For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company had favorable EAC adjustments of $1.0 million and $1.1 million respectively, for an existing individual professional services contract. The remaining EAC adjustments are not individually significant to the Company.
For contracts structured as cost-plus-fixed-fee or on a time and materials basis, the Company generally recognizes revenue based on the right-to-invoice when practically expedient, as the Company is contractually able to invoice the customer based on the control transferred to the customer in an amount that corresponds directly with the value to the customer of the Company’s performance completed to date.
Imagery and Software Analytical Service and Professional and Engineering Service Costs
Imagery and software analytical service costs primarily include internal labor to support the ground station network and space operations, third-party data and imagery, and cloud computing and hosting services. The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense for those employees whose work supports the imagery and software analytical service costs it provides to customers, under imagery and software analytical service costs, excluding depreciation and amortization. For those employees who provide these services to support customer-based programs, the stock-based compensation expense is classified under imagery and software analytical services costs.
Professional and engineering service costs primarily include the cost of internal labor for design and engineering in support of long-term development contracts for satellites and payload systems, as well as subcontract direct materials and external labor costs to build and test specific components, such as the communications system, payload demands, and sensor integration. In addition, the Company also recognizes internal labor costs and external subcontract labor costs for its customer-centric software service solutions. The
Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense for those employees who provide professional and engineering services support to customers, under professional and engineering service costs, excluding depreciation and amortization.
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| Sponsor Shares |
Sponsor Shares On September 9, 2021, BlackSky's predecessor company, Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp. (“Osprey”), completed its merger (the "Merger") with Osprey Technology Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Osprey, and BlackSky Holdings, Inc. Osprey pre-Merger Class B common shares were exchanged for shares of the Company’s Class A common stock (the "Sponsor Shares") upon completion of the Merger. The Company accounted for the Sponsor Shares in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40, under which the Sponsor Shares did not meet the criteria for equity treatment and were recorded as derivative liabilities in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2024. The Sponsor Shares are adjusted to fair value at each reporting period and the change in fair value is recognized in gain on derivatives in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income.
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| Stock-Based Compensation |
Stock-Based Compensation
Restricted Stock Awards and Restricted Stock Units
The Company has granted restricted stock awards ("RSAs") and grants restricted stock units ("RSUs") to certain employees, for which the grant date fair value is equal to the fair value of the Class A common stock on the date of grant. In order to determine the fair value of its Class A common stock on the date of grant prior to the Merger, the Company historically performed a valuation analysis using a combination of market and income approaches. Subsequent to the Merger, the Company uses the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) trading price as the fair value of the Class A common stock for valuation purposes. For all awards for which vesting is only subject to a service condition, including those subject to graded vesting, the Company has elected to use the straight-line method to recognize the fair value as compensation cost over the requisite service period.
Certain of the Company’s outstanding RSUs had performance vesting conditions that were triggered upon the consummation of the Merger. Therefore, since the performance conditions attributable to these RSUs had been met, the Company commenced recording the associated compensation expense, inclusive of a catch-up amount for the service period between their grant date and satisfaction of the performance condition, as of the closing of the Merger. The fair value of the RSUs that include a performance condition is recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period using the accelerated attribution method, which accounts for RSUs with discrete vesting dates as if they were separate awards. Expense related to stock-based payments is classified in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income based upon the classification of each employee's cash compensation. As of September 30, 2024, 6 thousand RSUs with performance vesting conditions were outstanding and the associated remaining expense of $0.1 million will be recognized through September 30, 2025.
Stock Options
The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to value all options, including options under the 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("ESPP"), and the straight-line method to recognize the fair value as compensation cost over the requisite service period. The fair value of each option granted was estimated as of the date of grant. The Company did not grant any options during the nine months ended September 30, 2024. The Company uses the following inputs when applying the Black-Scholes option pricing model:
Expected Dividend Yield. The Black-Scholes valuation model requires an expected dividend yield as an input. The dividend yield is based on historical experience and expected future changes. The Company has not historically paid and currently has no plans to pay dividends on its Class A common stock.
Expected Volatility. The Company does not have sufficient historical share price history; therefore, the expected volatility was estimated based upon the historical share price volatility of guideline comparable companies.
Risk-free Interest Rate. The yield on actively traded non-inflation indexed U.S. Treasury notes was used to extrapolate an average risk-free interest rate based on the expected term of the underlying grants.
Expected Term. For options granted in 2021 through 2023, since there was not a history of option exercises as a public company, the Company considered the option vesting terms and contractual period, as well as the demographics of the holders, in estimating the expected term. For options granted prior to 2021, the expected term was the estimated duration to a liquidation event based on a weighted average consideration of the most likely exit prospects for that stage of development. BlackSky Holdings, Inc. ("Legacy BlackSky") was privately funded and, accordingly, the lack of marketability was factored into the expected term of options granted. The Company will review its estimate in the future and adjust it, if necessary, due to changes in the Company’s historical exercises.
The most significant assumption used to determine the fair value of the Legacy BlackSky equity-based awards was the estimated fair value of the Legacy BlackSky Class A common stock on the grant date. In order to determine the fair value of its Class A common stock on the date of grant prior to the Merger, Legacy BlackSky historically relied on a valuation analysis performed using a combination of market and income approaches. Subsequent to the Merger, the Company uses the NYSE trading price as the fair value of the Company's Class A common stock for valuation purposes.
Legacy BlackSky historically adjusted the exercise price of certain outstanding stock options. For each award with an adjusted exercise price, Legacy BlackSky calculated the incremental fair value, which was the excess of the fair value of the modified award over the fair value of the original award immediately before the modification. The incremental fair value was recognized as stock-based compensation expense immediately to the extent that the modified stock option already had vested, and for stock options that were not yet vested, the incremental fair value has been recognized as stock-based compensation expense over the remaining vesting period.
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| Accounting Standards Recently Adopted |
Accounting Standards Recently Issued But Not Yet Adopted
On November 27, 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2023-07 Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures. Among other new disclosure requirements, ASU 2023-07 requires companies to disclose significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker ("CODM"). ASU 2023-07 will be effective for annual periods beginning on January 1, 2024 and interim periods beginning on January 1, 2025. ASU 2023-07 must be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company is assessing the effect of this update on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
On December 14, 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09 Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures. ASU 2023-09 requires companies to disclose, on an annual basis, specific categories in the effective tax rate reconciliation and provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. In addition, ASU 2023-09 requires companies to disclose additional information about income taxes paid. ASU 2023-09 will be effective for annual periods beginning January 1, 2025 and will be applied on a prospective basis with the option to apply the standard retrospectively. The Company is assessing the effect of this update on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
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