AFRL Selects BlackSky to Create Automated Target Recognition Service

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded BlackSky Technology an AFWERX direct-to-Phase 2 contract to develop an automated target recognition service that can track vehicles in real time using combined radio frequency and electro-optical satellite sensor data. 

The service will automatically detect vehicles of interest and share mobile asset location data with remote devices and analysts anywhere in the world, BlackSky said.

According to Patrick O’Neil, BlackSky’s chief technology officer, the company will use its existing space and ground architecture and artificial intelligence and edge processing technologies to enhance real-time imagery and analytics delivery.

BlackSky operates an electro-optical high-resolution satellite constellation that uses multiframe burst imagery and computer vision to combine open-source intelligence feeds with multisensor imagery to track moving targets.

“The company’s rapid-revisit capabilities and leading innovations in automated detection give customers an opportunity to conduct ISR operations from space,” O’Neil said.

The Space Development Agency funds the AFWERX direct-to-Phase 2 contract.