CACI has entered a five-year cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center to progress various technology projects to support the development of payload technologies, space sensor applications and resilient positioning, navigation and timing tools.
The partnership follows CACI’s announcement of a 2023 satellite launch to test a multi-mission small satellite payload and demonstrate the capabilities of software-defined radio-based modules that can be tailored for specific missions, the Reston, Virginia-based company announced on Monday.
Todd Probert, president of national security and innovative solutions at CACI and two-time Wash100 Award winner, said that the mission-proven, ground-based technologies included in these payloads are designed specifically for space domain operations.
“They enable increased resiliency and security through low size, weight and power software-defined applications,” he elaborated.
Two software-defined technology applications built to allow accurate, resilient PNT and tactical signals intelligence capabilities in low earth orbit are included in the planned launch.
The PNT payload will guide precision positioning and navigation while delivering improved GPS-independent earth-space time synchronization, which can be harnessed to produce high-precision geolocation services in proliferated LEO constellations, boost GPS reliability and enable augmentation in GPS-denied or degraded environments.
At the same time, the tactical ISR payload is designed to collect, geolocate, demodulate and decode digital mobile radio signals.
USASMDC-TC has considered participating in the program to assess these technologies for use in military operations.
Currently, CACI is responsible for developing laser communications, laser sensing, artificial intelligence and secure communication technologies under the agreement.
The company is also supporting the Army Futures Command with research and development work. Under a $54.6 million contract, CACI is providing the command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation, Timing and Space Cross Functional Team in Alabama with guidance on identifying research and development opportunities to further Army modernization initiatives.
CACI is sponsoring GovCon Wire’s 3rd annual Air Force IT Modernization Forum, which will connect IT and technology experts to discuss challenges and opportunities influencing the future of Air Force IT on March 21. To learn more and register to attend, visit GovCon Wire’s events page.
