The Defense Innovation Unit has announced the opening of the Dual Horizons: U.S.-India Satellite Tracking Challenge, aimed to enhance capabilities to detect satellite movements in contested environments in low Earth orbit.
DIU said Thursday the bilateral challenge was launched in partnership with the U.S. Space Forces-Indo-Pacific, or USSPACEFOR-INDOPAC, the Space Domain Awareness Tools, Applications, & Processing Lab, or SDA TAP Lab, and India’s Innovations for Defence Excellence, or iDEX. The purpose of the challenge is to develop technologies that can track satellites trying to avoid detection in near real-time over the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.
The India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem, or INDUS-X, was established in 2023 to boost defense industrial cooperation between the two nations and to accelerate innovation in manufacturing and technology.
Challenge Parameters & Expectations
The Dual Horizons challenge is open to U.S. or India-owned and operated non-traditional companies at their early-to-mid stage. Interested parties may submit their proposals until Jan. 9, 2025. An information session will be held on Dec. 4, while the virtual final pitch event will be in February. Winning companies will receive $150,000.
Aditi Kumar, deputy director for strategy, policy and national security partnerships at DIU, stated, “This challenge will help both governments to identify best-of-breed technologies that our militaries need to maintain advantage in the space domain.”
Steve Butow, director of space portfolio at DIU, added, “Tapping into the technological advancements from our partners and allies gets us closer to the critical integration of our efforts in the space domain.”
