Slingshot Aerospace, a provider of Space Operations Intelligence & Autonomy (SOIA), announced a $69.2 million award in support of the U.S. Space Force’s ongoing digital transformation efforts. This 4.5-year initiative, part of the Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) program, will deliver AI-powered mission rehearsal and operational training capabilities to Guardians responsible for protecting and defending U.S. and allied interests in space.
The award, issued as a SBIR Phase III contract, is the largest in Slingshot’s history and builds on a previous Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract, which supported development of a Digital Space Twin of the space operating environment.
Named MENTAT, the program draws inspiration from the human strategists in Dune who are trained to process vast amounts of information and support complex decision-making. The effort supports the Department of War’s push to accelerate military AI adoption and build an AI-first warfighting force by applying artificial intelligence to one of the Space Force’s most urgent needs: preparing Guardians to operate at the speed, scale, and complexity of modern space conflict.
The U.S. Space Force’s mission requires Guardians to contest and control the space domain, defend critical space capabilities, and protect the Joint Force from space-enabled threats. MENTAT helps meet that mission by giving Guardians persistent access to high-fidelity, AI-enabled environments where they can rehearse protect-and-defend scenarios, evaluate courses of action, and sharpen decision-making under realistic operational conditions.
At the center of MENTAT is TALOS, Slingshot’s AI-powered operational training and strategy agent. TALOS models realistic spacecraft behaviors, generates strategic response options, processes vast amounts of complex data, and supports mission rehearsal across continuously evolving space scenarios. For Guardians, the outcome is faster, more realistic preparation for detecting abnormal behavior, understanding adversary intent, coordinating across mission teams, and maintaining decision advantage in a contested orbital environment.
“TALOS gives Guardians the ability to train against realistic orbital scenarios and rehearse complex missions with a level of speed, scale, and accessibility that simply hasn’t existed before,” said Tim Solms, CEO of Slingshot Aerospace. “MENTAT represents a major advancement in operational space readiness, putting AI-enabled mission rehearsal directly into the environments where Guardians prepare for and execute their missions.”
Source: Slingshot Aerospace
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