Space Force, AFRL ink first non-US research agreements with Indian AI, sensor firms
While this may be the first CRADA's between the two Indian space startups and the Space Force, neither company is a stranger to the US space market ecosystem.
While this may be the first CRADA's between the two Indian space startups and the Space Force, neither company is a stranger to the US space market ecosystem.
Under the agreement with ICEYE, the Army will look especially hard at the ability to significantly cut the time it takes to relay ISR data from a satellite to shooters on the ground.
"I'd call it a VERY minor slow toe dip," said one stunned company rep, trying to find polite words.
The ability to directly access remote sensing satellite data for targeting has long been a Holy Grail for the Army.
ODNI is working on providing outside partners with declassified explanations of the office's science and technology priorities, said John Beieler, director of science and technology.
"We have hardpoints on the C-17; We have hardpoints on the KC-46. It's not a hard stretch to think that we could put one or two missiles on there for self defense," says AMC head Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost.
Major SATCOM providers -- such as Hughes (a subsidiary of SATCOM giant Echostar), Viasat, Intelsat, Inmarsat, SES and Eutelsat -- argue that this would not only ease problems with service gaps that have long plagued troops in the field, but also be cheaper and allow speedier integration of new technology.
Point-to-point space transport is "a decade plus, maybe even multiple decades, in the future for that to be economical and practical from any commercial standpoint," Carissa Christensen, CEO of Bryce Space and Technologies, says.
Other Transaction Authority prototyping tripled from 2017's $1.6 billion, while other non-traditional vehicles, like research grants, declined from $730 million to $590 million.
ABL's planned timeline would see the vehicle integration of the RS-1 this quarter, with a test launch in the third quarter of this year and the first commercial launch sometime after the end of the year.