Arthur McMiler
Software developer Rise8 has been selected for the first cycle of program year 2025 of SpaceWERX’s Strategic Funding Increase, or STRATFI, along with seven other small businesses.
The Tampa, Florida-based company said its STRATFI award calls for providing the Space Systems Command with a third-party applications pipeline for continuous authorization to operate, or cATO, on Warp Core, the U.S. Space Force data as a service platform.
Speed and Flexibility Contribution Seen
Bryon Kroger, Rise8 founder and CEO, expects the company’s funding award to contribute in maximizing USSF’s software technology investments for more rapid, flexible and dependable operations.
“Deploying a cATO pipeline on the Warp Core platform will unlock the full potential of development opportunities with significant mission impact, increased deployment frequency, and reduced lead time,” said the Rise8 head.
The company qualified in STRATFI after receiving a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award to develop production capabilities and a Phase I SBIR contract with SpaceWERX, the USSF’s innovation arm.
Other STRATFI Contractors, Potential Awards
AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force also awarding STRATFI contracts, announced in a recent LinkedIn post that Rise8’s co-awardees for Program Year 25.1 are Gravitics, Albedo Space, Umbra Lab, Cesium Astro, LeoLabs, Xona Space and Beast Code. The funding program provides between $3 million and $15 million per project to support small businesses transition new technologies to operational use.
According to AFWERX, an opportunity is now open for small businesses with Phase II contracts to apply in the Program Year 25.2 of Tactical Funding Increase that provides between $375,000 and $2 million to transition their innovations to Phase III.
