South Australian artificial intelligence (AI) company AICRAFT has secured funding from the inaugural South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund to develop the smallest Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload with fastest onboard data processing unit.
The SAR payload will be developed as part of the project called ‘Leoflect’ (short for Low Earth Orbit reflector antenna) and will combine AICRAFT’s miniature edge device with server-processing capacity and a lightweight, ultra-compact, reflector array antenna from Guerin Technologies (India). This solution will use advanced AI models to deliver power-efficient, high-speed data processing and analysis on orbit – a solution that is light-years ahead of existing technologies. A special quality of SAR is that it can penetrate cloud cover and ‘see through’ darkness and weather allowing a unique view of flood inundation, land cover changes, and modifications of Earth’s surface from landslides, earthquakes, and background tectonic motion, etc.
AICRAFT’s CEO Dr. Tony Scoleri said, “We have developed strong relationships with the Indian space ecosystem and are thrilled to partner with Guerin Technologies on our ‘Leoflect’ project to harness the innovation in both our companies and deliver the most compact SAR antenna and most compact, low-power onboard computer on the market. SAR data is critically important and can be used in applications such as agriculture, forestry, glacier monitoring, maritime surveillance and Defence intelligence. We are grateful to the South Australian Government for this funding support, which will make it possible for us to deliver world-class technology with rapid speed, bringing down the cost of, and access to, critically important SAR data.”
Guerin Technologies’ CEO Suhas Bannur, said, “We are excited to collaborate with AICRAFT to develop extremely lightweight, compact SAR platforms with super-fast data processing for next-generation satellites. Our revolutionary composite-based SAR antenna along with AICRAFT’s cutting-edge data processing modules will bring a paradigm shift in the SAR data processing landscape. We thank the South Australian government and the South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund for the opportunity to collaborate with AICRAFT to bring this unique solution to the market.”
The South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund is an initiative of the South Australian Space Industry Centre in collaboration with the Defence Innovation Partnership. The fund, launched earlier this year, is designed to accelerate the development of local space innovation and collaboration with international partners. It supports projects that are focused on proof-of-concept or delivering space capabilities with a clear path to commercialization.
