NGA Taps Orbital Insight for Maritime Surveillance Solution

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has awarded Orbital Insight a $2 million pilot contract to develop maritime surveillance capabilities for Project Aegir.

The funding is the inaugural award under the agency’s Commercial Solutions Opening, a procurement strategy designed to accelerate the acquisition of commercial technologies, the NGA said.

Project Aegir, the focus of the CSO, is aimed at enhancing the agency’s ability to identify, monitor and track illicit maritime activities within the critical Indo-Pacific region.

Orbital Insight bested over 80 companies that participated in the solicitation. The geospatial analytics company was among the 12 finalists that advanced to the pitching stage, where a panel of NGA and U.S. Indo Pacific Command experts, along with representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, evaluated proposals based on the company’s data fusion and automation capabilities.

Pilot testing of the Orbital Insight solution will occur over the next five months to determine potential long-term contracts or broader acquisitions.

Devin Brande, director of the NGA’s commercial operations and a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker, noted that by gathering mission experts through a streamlined evaluation approach, the first CSO was able to speed up the procurement process, which was finished in under 90 days.