Nichols Martin
Orbital Sidekick has secured a multiyear, $16M contract from the U.S. Air Force's commercial investment organization to support the development and launch of satellites with hyperspectral imaging sensors designed to help government and commercial customers monitor assets.
The company said Thursday it will match the funds from AFVentures with private funding in efforts to deploy six HSI satellites and help the service branch incorporate the firm's Spectral Intelligence Global Monitoring Application technology into the Advanced Battle Management System, a digital infrastructure for military connectivity and sensor interoperability.
SIGMA is intended to link users to a suite of OSK assets such as a satellite tasking system and a data analytics engine for global monitoring.
"High spectral fidelity is essential for solving some of the most challenging remote sensing problems our customers face today," said Katie Corcoran, director of operations and government programs at OSK.
Corcoran added the company seeks to offer data products for defense and industry applications.
OSK designed its microclass satellite technology to capture over 400 spectral bands within the visible-to-shortwave infrared range and scheduled December 2021 for the first launch in the planned constellation.
AFVentures awarded the contract in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Space and Missile Systems Center via the Strategic Financing program.
