Space Force Awards $69.2 Million Contract for AI-Powered Mission Training
Four-And-A-Half-Year SBIR Deal Will Give Guardians AI-Driven Rehearsal Tools At Their Home Stations
The U.S. Space Force has awarded a $69.2 million contract to build an artificial intelligence-powered training and mission rehearsal system for Guardians who defend U.S. and allied space assets.
“TALOS gives Guardians the ability to train against realistic orbital scenarios and rehearse complex missions.”
Tim Solms, Slingshot Aerospace
Slingshot Aerospace, based in Windsor, Colorado, announced the award July 15. The contract is structured as a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III award and runs four and a half years under the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure program.
According to the company, the deal is the largest contract in Slingshot’s history. It builds on an earlier Strategic Funding Increase contract that supported development of the company’s Digital Space Twin, a model of the space operating environment.
The new program is named MENTAT, a reference to the human strategists in the novel “Dune” who are trained to process large volumes of information to support decision-making. Slingshot said the effort supports the Department of War’s push to expand military use of artificial intelligence.
At the center of the program is TALOS, described by the company as an AI-powered operational training and strategy agent. TALOS models spacecraft behaviors, generates response options and processes data to support mission rehearsal, according to the release. Slingshot said the tool is intended to help Guardians detect abnormal behavior, assess adversary intent and coordinate across mission teams in a contested orbital environment.
The company said Guardians have historically trained in specialized exercises held at limited times. Under MENTAT, Slingshot said, they will instead be able to access the training tools from their home stations as part of day-to-day work.
“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.”