Owl Product Line Introduced by Scout Space
Advanced Modular Long-Range SDA Sensors
The Owl product line of advanced modular long-range SDA sensors, designed as a scalable solution bringing purpose-built capabilities to a broad array of operators, has been introduced by Scout Space.
“A modular and interoperable Owl system is a foundational element for the future space architecture, fostering resilience, self-reliance and multi-functionality."
Josiah Gruber, Scout Space
The Scout Owl product line development is supported by an AFWERX Phase 2 SBIR awarded on Dec. 13, 2023 in the amount of $1.8M as a dual-use sensor payload to enable tactically responsive space (TacRS) payload modularity, integration, and capability for the Department of the Air Force (DAF).
Building upon the operational success of the TRL-7 Sparrow (formerly known as Scout-Vision) hardware and software, the Owl system offers visible spectrum sensing and insights to host vehicles.
Philip Hover-Smoot, CEO of Scout, remarked, "Owl’s independent tasking capability significantly expands the range and quality of products we can offer to both commercial and government customers. It sets new benchmarks for achievable SDA outcomes across all orbital domains, marking a major milestone for Scout as a leading SDA provider.”
Key Features of the Owl Vision Payload System:
On-board long-range object detection and orbit estimation
Autonomous or tasked operation modes
Hemispherical field of view scanning capability enables by its dual-axis gimbal
“A modular and interoperable Owl system is a foundational element for the future space architecture, fostering resilience, self-reliance and multi-functionality," said Josiah Gruber, Scout’s vice president of Engineering. "Integrating Owl into tactically-responsive frameworks underscores the U.S.’s commitment to enhancing safety in space operations for multiple orbital regimes.”
Owl Capabilities & Services Offered
Owl is a gimbaled long-range space domain awareness vision payload system designed to augment missions for added in-space capabilities and services which include:
Tracking & Catalog Maintenance: Survey the space domain around its host and collect photometric or orbital data on nearby objects.
Neighborhood Watch: Perform hemispherical surveys and identify un-tracked objects outside the domain of traditional sensors.
Self Protect: Gimbal flexibility helps identify, and track Resident Space Objects (RSOs) through flyby or rendezvous scenarios and tip its host to take evasive action.
Sparrow Flight Proven Capabilities
The baseline Sparrow (the production version of Scout’s Scout-Vision system), including the stereoscopic sensor suite and software, demonstrated its core capabilities onboard the Orbit Fab TANKER-001 mission in 2021 producing commercial non-Earth imagery and space data products. The initial Sparrow payload was decommissioned in Nov. 2023, but Scout recently launched an updated version on Transporter-10.