Bengaluru-based space start-up Pixxel has been awarded a research contract from the U.S.’s National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for industrial hyperspectral imagery (HSI).
Pixxel is among the many corporations to bag the research contract from NRO which develops, acquires, launches, and operates the U.S.’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites.
The 5 different corporations to obtain awards beneath NRO’s Strategic Commercial Enhancement’s (SCE) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Framework are BlackSky Technology, HyperSat, Orbital Sidekick, Planet, and Xplore.
“We are operating the largest, most diverse, most capable overhead constellation in NRO’s history as we face increasingly complex threats in space and on the ground. Through these newest contracts, we are very excited to explore the potential of commercial hyperspectral imagery and what it may be able to contribute to our world-class intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities,” mentioned NRO director Chris Scolese.
According to NRO, an company of the United States Department of Defence, hyperspectral photographs are made up of sunshine from a whole lot of colors throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. “Since hyperspectral imaging collects many different colours of light, any given object will have a unique signature. This enables users to obtain information about each pixel in an image, with the goal of identifying objects and materials. Hyperspectral imagery has a diverse set of applications including agriculture, mining, geology, and intelligence and surveillance,” it mentioned.
The industrial hyperspectral capabilities contracts deal with rising information and understanding of present and anticipated hyperspectral imagery availability, high quality, and operational utility by means of a two-stage effort.
The first stage focuses on analytical research to provide estimates of system capabilities at each the person sensor and constellation ranges, in addition to enterprise and cybersecurity planning. The second stage focuses on assessing on-orbit capabilities and procuring knowledge merchandise.
“In just over four months from RFP release to award, these contracts demonstrate our continued commitment to agile acquisition. Speed remains vital to take advantage of the innovation coming from industry, and to assess emerging technologies such as HSI and the potential to address intelligence challenges. Speed remains vital to take advantage of the innovation coming from industry, and to assess emerging technologies such as HSI and the potential to address intelligence challenges,” Pete Muend, director of the NRO’s industrial methods program workplace.
These awards comply with six BAA contracts for industrial radio frequency distant sensing awarded in September 2022, and 5 industrial radar BAA contracts in January 2022.
