AFRL posts BAA for Exploitation and Analysis for Space Domain Awareness

On December 23, the Air Force Research Laboratory posted an updated broad agency announcement for Exploitation and Analysis for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) (BAA NUMBER: BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0021). For best consideration in FY17, the agency requests white papers by October 31, 2016.

The focus of this BAA is to research, develop, demonstrate, integrate and test innovative technologies associated with tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, analysis and dissemination in support of Astrodynamics for Space Domain Awareness (SDA), indication and warning, characterization, and predictive assessment of potential space hostile and natural threats. In addition, development of techniques that provide avenues to leverage High-Performance Computational SDA, expertise and applications from the ground, and orbital and cyber intelligence assessment perspectives to attain an integrated, predictive space domain awareness (SDA) perspective.

We seek new algorithms, methods, novel techniques and applications for:

– Automated pattern learning and reasoning, anomaly detection and characterization of events and space asset attack assessment.

– Multi-source data (radar, optical and other) exploitation and analysis and fusion for timely, accurate and complete characterization of space objects.

– High fidelity tools for satellite modeling, classification and vulnerability assessment.

– Mathematical approaches for fusing, assessing and characterizing data from new sensor and information sources. Information sources for prediction of threats include Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Image Intelligence (IMINT), Moving Intelligence (MOVINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Twitter, Facebook, weather (space and terrestrial), non-resolvable imagery and the orbital catalog.

– Astrodynamics algorithms for:
1) Tracking and data association
2) Advanced orbit estimation and prediction
3) Observation error characterization
4) Track initiation with all space surveillance data types, especially electro-optical data types
5) Satellite identification and recognition
6) Data and analysis required for modeling and simulation.

Proposed technologies should address key gaps and shortfalls as identified by AFRL and other Department of Defense technology studies including capabilities for threat awareness, the ability to gather and fuse intelligence data with current and archived intelligence information, provide intelligence analysis tools and exploit space and terrestrial environment information.

Full information is available here.

Source: FedBizOpps