NGA capitalizes on SpaceNet’s efforts

The volume of available overhead imagery is increasing at a rate that is impossible for humans to keep up with and manage effectively.

To fully leverage this abundance of imagery, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency constantly seeks innovative ways to automate its imagery analysis to better support national security efforts.

Enter SpaceNet, a recently launched collaboration between DigitalGlobe, In-Q-Tel’s CosmiQ Works, NVIDIA, and Amazon Web Services. SpaceNet offers an opportunity to build on the work of others in the pursuit of enhanced automation for geospatial intelligence.

NGA will participate with the SpaceNet initiative, demonstrating the agency’s commitment to fostering, developing and deploying innovative technology to further the NGA mission and our customers’ success, said Robert Cardillo, NGA director.

“We know that what got us here, won’t get us to where we need to be in the future,” said Cardillo. “These new actors in our mission space are alive with energy and ideas that enhance our collective contribution to our national security. NGA cannot do it all by itself. We must rely on our partners in science, academia and industry to help us stay ahead of technology trends.”

SpaceNet offers an online repository of commercial satellite imagery and labeled training data available at no cost to the public via Amazon Web Services.

The SpaceNet open innovation initiative is aligned with the White House Strategy on American Innovation. NGA anticipates that tapping into the creativity and experience of the public through its participation with SpaceNet will accelerate the automation for NGA’s space-based image analyses, said Cardillo.

Source: NGA