HawkEye 360
HawkEye 360 operates a commercial microsatellite constellation that detects, characterizes, and geolocates RF emitters globally for defense, intelligence, and maritime awareness.
Background
HawkEye 360 was founded in 2015 in Herndon, Virginia by Chris DeMay, Charles Clancy, and Bob McGwier, emerging from research into space-based radio-frequency sensing.
The company built a constellation of formation-flying microsatellites — clusters of three spacecraft flying in precise geometric arrangements — capable of passively detecting and geolocating RF signals from low Earth orbit without active interrogation of targets.
Its core product line centers on RFGeo, a signal-mapping and RF geospatial intelligence service that characterizes emitter type, location, and behavior.
In December 2023 it acquired Maxar Intelligence's RF Solutions business unit, formerly Aurora Insight, expanding its spectrum analytics depth. Cluster 6 formation satellites were developed with SFL Missions.
HawkEye 360 sells primarily to U.S. government agencies, Combatant Commands, and allied nations through direct government contracts and task-order vehicles. Headcount sits at roughly 51–200 employees. CEO is John Serafini.
Linked records
Wired to the rest of BattlePolicy — the systems it builds in the Lexicon and the contracts it wins in the Procurement Tracker. Every link below is a record in our own datasets.
- none linked yet
- none linked yet
Financial footing
- $150M Series E (Dec 2025)
- NYSE IPO (HAWK) priced May 2026 — raised $416M at $3.15B val
- Backers: NightDragon, Insight Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures
HawkEye 360 raised a $150 million Series E in December 2025, led by investors including NightDragon, Insight Partners, and Lockheed Martin Ventures. The company priced its NYSE IPO under the ticker HAWK in May 2026, raising $416 million at a valuation of $3.15 billion per the company's own disclosure — notably, a pre-IPO target figure of up to $2.4 billion was reported in April 2026, making the final $3.15 billion valuation the confirmed number.
LinkedIn profile data reflects a $40 million figure that represents an incomplete historical snapshot rather than total cumulative funding. No revenue or backlog figure has been publicly disclosed in available sourcing. The company is now publicly traded on the NYSE.
Major customers & contracts
Joined live from the Procurement & Contracts Tracker — real award/announcement records.
| Customer | System | Scale / detail | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | SeaVision software and support | Non-MDE package: SeaVision software enhancements, TAFT training, remote support, documentation, logistics | tender |
Further disclosed customers & programs (public reporting):
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awarded HawkEye 360 a $10 million base-year contract with four option years to discover, characterize, and map RF emitters; outputs serve NGA enterprise users including Combatant Commands and other mission partners. NASA selected HawkEye 360 in 2026 to supply its RFIQ data product for research into resilient space-to-space communications and interference mapping across low Earth orbit. The company's broader U.S.
government customer base includes defense and intelligence agencies, though specific additional contract awards and dollar values have not been publicly disclosed beyond those two programs. Allied nations and scientific agencies are served but are not named in available public sourcing. A SeaVision software and support package for India — covering software enhancements, TAFT training, remote support, documentation, and logistics — is listed as a pending foreign military sale notification dated January 2026.
Leadership & contact surface
Leadership: John Serafini
Official site: https://www.he360.com
Competitive position
Spire Global also operates a multi-purpose LEO constellation with an RF/GNSS-RO sensing layer; HawkEye 360's dedicated RF geolocation architecture produces higher-fidelity emitter characterization but Spire's larger satellite count offers superior revisit rates. Umbra and Capella Space compete in the broader geospatial intelligence market and increasingly integrate RF cues with SAR imagery, giving them a multi-INT edge HawkEye 360 lacks without third-party fusion.
LeoLabs focuses on space-domain awareness RF sensing rather than terrestrial emitter geolocation, occupying an adjacent niche with different government buyers. Aurora Insight — now absorbed via the December 2023 acquisition — was previously a direct spectrum-analytics rival; integrating that capability strengthens HawkEye 360's terrestrial spectrum monitoring position. The market remains fragmented among a handful of commercial SIGINT-adjacent firms; HawkEye 360's first-mover status in dedicated formation-flying RF geolocation and its NGA contract relationship represent its clearest structural advantages.
Battlefield relevance
No confirmed combat use to date.
Sources & verification
- NGA RF emitter mapping contract — HawkEye 360
- India SeaVision arms sale notification — Federal Register
- https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/hawkeye-360
- https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3379&context=smallsat
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HawkEye_360
- https://intelligencecommunitynews.com/hawkeye-360-wins-nga-rf-mapping-contract/
- https://ma.linkedin.com/company/hawkeye-360
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawkeye-360-adds-new-radar-and-communication-signals-to-rfgeo-product-301629250.html
- https://www.spacecapital.com/portfolio/hawkeye-360
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBPIecvHGVA
- https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20250910034084/sfl-missions-inc-awarded-contract-to-develop-three-new-hawkeye-360-satellite-clusters-for-radio-frequency-detection
- https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4075&context=smallsat
- https://sflmissions.com/hawkeye-360-cluster-6/
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/12699105116/posts/10164752109840117/
- https://www.he360.com
- https://www.he360.com/hawkeye-360-launches-rfgeo-signal-mapping-product/
- https://www.he360.com/hawkeye-360-begins-first-of-its-kind-commercial-geolocation-of-radio-frequency-signals-from-space/