Blackwing Space announces it has entered into a commercial agreement with Manifest Space to fly a payload aboard Blackwing's Sparrow 1U nanosatellite platform. Under the agreement, Manifest Space will deploy an optical beacon payload designed to support spacecraft identification and space traffic coordination. The payload will fly as part of Blackwing's "Baby Bird" demonstration mission, currently targeted for SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare launch in Q4 2026.

Blackwing Space, a Nashville-based nanosatellite manufacturer, has been selected for the Space-Edge 2025-26 cohort, a national commercialization program helping innovators unlock opportunities in space-enabled advanced materials and manufacturing. Participating through Vanderbilt University, Blackwing will collaborate with research and industry partners to accelerate on-orbit experimentation in areas such as biomanufacturing, composites, and semiconductor materials. The company’s commercial nanosatellite platforms - designed and built in Tennessee - support rapid, affordable flight testing aligned with the emerging Space 3.0 era, where access is commercially driven and widely available. Space-Edge is developed in partnership with ASU, Rice, UCF, Vanderbilt, and the Space Foundation.