Space Force Space Domain Awareness Contract Awarded to Vantor
Will Facilitate Continuous Tracking of High-Interest Space Objects
A contract supporting the US Space Force Joint Commercial Operations program has been awarded to Vantor to track high-interest objects that pass through “blind spots” in space that are not visible to ground sensor networks.
“Vantor’s unique visual-based space domain awareness capabilities serve as a critical complement to traditional sensor networks.”
Susanne Hake, Vantor
Under the contract, Vantor will utilize its high-resolution imagery of space objects, also known as non-Earth imagery (NEI), to deliver key information about an object’s position and trajectory. The crucial observations will allow Space Force to maintain persistent custody of the high-interest objects and will be particularly useful in situations where an object has the potential to change orbit—a situation that could endanger the safety of U.S. assets in space.
“Vantor’s unique visual-based space domain awareness capabilities serve as a critical complement to traditional sensor networks, providing real-time intelligence that allows customers like Space Force to achieve persistent Space Domain Awareness,” said Susanne Hake, SVP & General Manager, U.S. Government at Vantor. “Our NEI capability serves as a foundation for advanced orbital intelligence, delivering vital insights about the state and directional paths of objects in LEO—providing a critical national security advantage in a domain that is increasingly congested and contested.”
Position and trajectory measurements on objects in ground sensor “blind spots” can be delivered through the precise intelligence collected from NEI. Vantor satellites can capture images of other spacecraft at an industry-leading resolution of less than 10 cm from hundreds of kilometers away, making it possible to quickly characterize those space objects and determine their health and status.
This Space Force award is one of several Space Domain Awareness-related contracts that Vantor, previously known as Maxar Intelligence, has recently won.
Vantor is an awardee of The Office of Space Commerce’s “Commercial COLA Gap” Pathfinder program. The COLA Gap refers to the period right after a satellite launch when space traffic coordination is hampered by limited or imprecise tracking data. During this time, newly deployed satellites may not have reliable positional information, creating a spike in collision risk and posing coordination challenges for satellite operators, launch providers, and traffic management authorities. Vantor’s NEI and Space Domain Awareness insights will deliver visual-based intelligence to help minimize collision risk.
Vantor was also included in Space Force’s Domain Awareness Tools, Applications and Processing Lab’s Apollo Accelerator Cohort 6. Vantor will support Space Force by automatically tasking high-resolution NEI to enable rapid response decision-making on threats in orbit.