Herndon’s BlackSky appoints chief revenue officer

Herndon- and Seattle-based geospatial intelligence and global monitoring company BlackSky Technology Inc. announced that J.R. Riordan assumed the role of chief revenue officer on Monday.

“With a professional background in both defense and geospatial intelligence, J.R. will be an outstanding addition to BlackSky’s expanded executive leadership team,” BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole said in a statement. As our chief revenue officer, J.R. will play a pivotal role in building and sustaining our customer pipeline and strengthening our business development operations.”

Riordan will be responsible for overseeing revenue operations, strategic partnerships and sales activities. He was most recently the senior vice president at Centreville-based defense contractor Parsons Corp. for its space and geospatial intelligence business. Before that, Riordan was a staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, where he led the congressional establishment of the U.S. Space Force.

“I’m looking forward to expanding BlackSky’s pipeline of global customers and bolstering its business development efforts,” Riordan said in a statement. “There’s a clear demand for actionable insights and geospatial intelligence that can drive informed decision-making, and I’m excited to be part of a dynamic company within a burgeoning industry.”

BlackSky debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 10 after closing a SPAC merger first announced in February. Founded in 2014, BlackSky provides satellite imaging services using its satellite network and provides monitoring via machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision and natural language processing.