SCOUT Inc. and the U.S. Department of Defense, through the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), have signed an agreement for space situational awareness (SSA) services and data.
The agreement, which was finalized in November of 2021, is in recognition of mutual interest by both parties in the use of space for peaceful purposes and the importance of maintaining safe space flight operations.
USSPACECOM will provide SCOUT, upon request, data sets about orbit events, conjunctions and anomalies, enabling SCOUT to generate derivative data products.
Over the past year, SCOUT has made significant progress in terms of technology development and business expansion. Since June of of 2021, SCOUT has been successfully operating in space, following the launch of their SCOUT-Vision proximity operation system. In December of 2021, Momentus, a leading in-space infrastructure company, selected SCOUT to deliver spacecraft vision capabilities for its upcoming missions.
In 2022, SCOUT announced its Autonomy Software for spacecraft, which include computer vision and guidance software to make navigation safer and less complex for space operators. These offerings include software-hardware integration that provides: next-generation AI/ML-based autonomy, hybrid data fusion from various sensors, and closed-loop optical navigation control algorithms.
“This SSA data-sharing partnership with USSPACECOM further supplements and matures our data sets with additional layers of data and information. We’re developing the next generation of space traffic management systems, to better track and monitor assets in space, and this agreement is a testament to SCOUT’s commitment to supporting global space safety. Additionally, we’re pleased that the government is investing and leaning into the problem of space objects tracking and enhanced space domain awareness,” said Eric Ingram, Founder and CEO of SCOUT.
SCOUT 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 contracts and commercial paid pilots. For more information, visit www.scout.space.
