DARPA Partners With HyperSpectral to Look for Rare Earth Mineral Sources

HyperSpectral has signed a cooperative agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to demonstrate how the company’s application of artificial intelligence to spectroscopic data can enable the identification of new rare Earth mineral sources using satellites or drones.

The Department of Defense is developing domestic supply chains to have continuous access to the minerals required to manufacture permanent magnets used in military weapons systems.

Currently, the bulk of rare Earth materials are found in China, Nextgov/FCW reported.

Data from Statista showed that 72 percent of the United States’ rare earth imports between 2019 and 2022 originated from China.

Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, previously said the “U.S. can no longer afford to rely on overseas, single-points-of-failure for critical components.”

According to HyperSpectral co-founder and CEO Matt Thereur, the company’s technology can also be used for other applications, including intelligence collection, food safety and bacteria analysis.