Satellite stocks Maxar, BlackSky and Planet Labs soar as Pentagon spy agency awards multibillion-dollar deal

• Satellite stocks Maxar, BlackSky and Planet Labs soared on news of a new Pentagon contract.
• The National Reconnaissance Office said the deal is its largest-ever commercial imagery contract.

Satellite stocks Maxar Technologies, BlackSky and Planet Labs soared Wednesday after a Pentagon spy agency announced it awarded them contracts.

The National Reconnaissance Office didn't specify the dollar value awarded to each company, instead saying the contract is worth "billions dollars over the next decade." NRO also said the deal marks its largest-ever commercial imagery contract.

Shares of Maxar and Planet Labs jumped 15%, while BlackSky leapt 104% in midday trading.

The NRO is part of the US Department of Defense, responsible for building and maintaining satellites to peer agencies like the National Security Agency.

Under the deal announced Wednesday, each company will produce Electro-Optical Commercial Layer spyware, which the NRO says improves infrared and nighttime visuals.

"Due to its unclassified and shareable nature, commercial remote sensing data offer important benefits, including increased transparency, mission-critical situational awareness, and humanitarian assistance," the NRO wrote in a press release.

Maxar's profile in particular has grown since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, as its satellite imagery has been used by news agencies to track developments in the war.