Analytical Space Inc. (ASI) has been awarded a three-year, $26.4 million contract by the Department of the Air Force's commercial investment arm (AF Ventures), with joint funding from the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), as part of the Strategic Financing (STRATFI) program, the company reported on Wednesday.
“Today’s joint investment by AF Ventures in our technology sends a clear signal that Analytical Space’s dual use technology is poised to be a premier enabler in this fight to build a peaceful world by democratizing and speeding access to space-borne data through the Fast Pixel Network,” said ASI’s CEO, Dan Nevius.
Under the contract, ASI will provide research, development, launch and deployment of six satellites and two additional hosted payload network nodes for Analytical Space’s Fast Pixel Network. The Fast Pixel Network is a data transport network in low Earth orbit.
The network ingests data from geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) collection satellites, routes it from node to node, leveraging high speed optical intersatellite links, and delivers that data in real time to military operators, intelligence analysts and commercial consumers.
The Fast Pixel Network operates in the space between GEOINT satellites and existing ground station networks. The offering will enable space-derived intelligence to reach end users with low latency across data pathways.
The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center will work to leverage a resilient and secure commercial space communications architecture to augment the agency’s systems and deliver increased capabilities for warfighters in all domains.
“We are eager to incorporate the services provided by ASI’s STRATFI-deployed Fast Pixel Network nodes into the Department of the Air Force’s capability matrix,” said 1st Lt Tyler Albright, from SMC’s Cross Mission Ground and Communications Enterprise at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
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