DARPA Awards BAE Systems $16 Mln Phase 2 Contract For Oversight Program
(RTTNews) - The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded BAE Systems' FAST Labs research, development, and production organization a $16 million Phase 2 contract for the Oversight program. This initiative is focused on developing an autonomous system capable of maintaining constant "custody" of a large number of terrestrial assets through advanced satellite constellations.
The award follows the successful completion of Phase 1, during which BAE Systems' software was integrated into a modeling and simulation environment to demonstrate custody missions using representative satellite and sensor models. In Phase 2, the company will further mature its solution algorithms and showcase operations with larger constellations, more complex scenarios, and higher fidelity modeling and simulation environments. The technology will be deployed across both tactical-edge satellites and ground stations.
By deploying Oversight program software and algorithms on proliferated, networked satellite constellations, BAE Systems aims to enable persistent surveillance at tactical timescales. Space-based coordination and data processing will deliver lower latency and higher revisit rates, supporting near real-time tracking. This increased scale, availability, and timeliness of information will enhance warfighter situational awareness and accelerate decision-making.
Work on the program will be conducted at BAE Systems' facilities in Burlington, Massachusetts, and Merrimack, New Hampshire, with collaboration from subcontractor AIMdyn, Inc.
