Reston, VA, (September 12, 2023) - SCOUT Space Inc., announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a Phase II SBIR in the amount of $1.25M focused on developing a flight software suite for critical space missions with autonomous sensor-driven multi-agent guidance and navigation capabilities, to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now on August 09, 2023, SCOUT Space will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
"SCOUT’s space-based sensing competencies dovetail well into the counterspace mission,” Sergio Gallucci, SCOUT’s Co-founder & CTO, cited. “We have an opportunity through this program to leverage our on-board autonomy capabilities to produce extensible flight software for safe collaborative operations. Data-based and inference-based decision-making, rather than relying on explicit commands, is one of the foundations for autonomy capabilities we’ll only need more as risks continue to proliferate in orbit.”
SCOUT’s Co-founder and CEO, Eric Ingram added, “The space domain is rapidly becoming a less permissive and more contested environment in which critical U.S. Government and commercial satellite constellations are under potential threat from near-peer adversaries. The development of this software and capabilities is a necessary step forward to ensure the safety of critical space assets in an era of increasing uncertainty. This contract enables SCOUT to continue to grow our relationship with government customers and provides the opportunity to leverage our expertise for national security needs.”
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
About SCOUT Space
SCOUT Space was founded in 2019 with the mission to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. SCOUT’s in-space products and services, first launched in June 2021, allow spacecraft to see and understand things around them. The orbital distributed sensor network developed by SCOUT will significantly improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and ensure responsible use of the space environment. The company is a Techstars, MassChallenge, and venture-backed startup with ongoing government and commercial contracts. SCOUT holds the Established® 2021 Startup of the Year® title. For more information, visit www.scout.space.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit www.afresearchlab.com.
About AFWERX
The innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory brings cutting edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. Employs approximately 325 military, civilian and contractor personnel at six hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4B budget. Since 2019, has executed 4,671 contracts worth more than $2B to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com.
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