CThe Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is accepting solution briefs in response to the solicitation below. Solution briefs will be accepted through April 22.
The Department of
Defense seeks novel, commercial solutions to prototype the processing,
exploitation, and dissemination of data collected off commercial spacecraft and
downlinked through commercial gateway inject points. This prototype
effort aligns directly with DARPA’s BLACKJACK program that will take advantage
of integrating a government sensor payload onto a commoditized commercial bus.
The intent for this
prototype is to deliver processed data in a format usable by tactical users
deployed to forward operating locations. Currently, there are no established
gateways or processes to ingest data collected from DARPA’s BLACKJACK-capable
spacecraft and distribute that data through a commercial gateway and seamlessly
deliver it to a location in theater that needs it most on timescales that
matter without significant human-machine interface and latency. This prototype
effort will result in the generation of a process recommendation, along with an
associated hardware and software solution using Overhead Persistent Infrared
(OPIR) data as a test case delivering capability to users in any CONUS or
forward operating location.
The commercial
solution to this prototype project will:
- Recommend a systems architecture and associated delivery process and procedure that harnesses raw data at a commercial gateway, processes that data en route at select locations before ultimately delivering a tactical product to in-theater users in tactically relevant timescales with minimal human-machine interface. This prototype must initially be capable of ingesting data from up to 20 overhead satellites but have the potential to scale to hundreds.
- Integrate with DARPA BLACKJACK payload data downlinked through commercial gateways.
- Ingest OPIR data as an initial test case with the ultimate goal of processing other data to include, but not limited to, electro-optical and near wave Infrared(IR), alternate navigation signals, radar, and communication signals.
- The first ground instantiation will not rely on the Enterprise Ground Service (EGS) support, but will develop the infrastructure to eventually allow for a path to EGS compliance.
- Minimize or eliminate dedicated or exclusive communications gateways that move and process data. Solutions must rely heavily on commercial pathways to include cloud and web services where appropriate with scalability and redundancy inherent throughout the architecture.
Solutions which can partially achieve the above objectives will be considered if they are sufficiently innovative; however, in these cases, partnering with another organization to achieve the full range of desired capabilities is encouraged.
Source: DIU
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