Five teams with two members each will participate in the Prime Fusion Pilot Accelerator Program that the Space Rapid Capabilities Office initiated to fast-track integrated satellite development and deployment. Each team is a partnership between innovative U.S.-based small businesses and major integrators, Space RCO said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday.
During the eight-week program, the teams will integrate new technologies through a novel approach for enhancing what the agency calls “own-ship awareness.” The program’s participants will contribute their unique approaches in combining onboard satellite sensors and software with ground-based systems for detecting and reporting glitches, risks and threats on a satellite.
Situational Awareness Goal
The program aims to seamlessly integrate into satellites the innovative and advanced technologies of prime integrators to create adaptable space assets that meet the situational awareness and responsiveness needs of Space RCO and the U.S. Space Force.
The program’s team partnerships are the following:
- Active Vigilance and Turion Space
- Digantara and Anduril
- Geost and Impulse Space
- Raptor Dynamix and True Anomaly
- TRL11 and BlackVe
Workshops, Program Presentation
A workshop series will be conducted for coaching and partnership discussions structured based on FedTech’s approach partnering emerging innovators with established counterparts. The program will have a capstone pitch event in March in Albuquerque for participant presentations to Space RCO and industry stakeholders.
Col. Owen Stephens, Space RCO’s contracting director, expressed optimism that the program will enable acquisition of next-generation satellites heightened for situational awareness to ensure the security and sustainability of U.S. space assets.
“Space RCO is harnessing the ingenuity of a diverse range of small businesses to augment established capabilities,” the official said.
