Weekly GEOINT Community News

Cubic Awarded Spot on Air Force Data Link Contract; Orbital ATK Announces New Vehicle Launch Campus; MDA Provides SAR Imagery for Land and Ocean Monitoring; World View Draws Series C Financing; More

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Cubic Awarded Spot on Air Force Data Link Contract

Cubic Corporation’s Cubic Mission Solutions business was awarded one of nine contracting positions on a Data Link Enterprise contract for the U.S. Air Force valued up to $496 million. The contract focuses on research, development, and testing for affordable communication architecture solutions capable of handling command and control data, full motion video, and other geospatial and signals intelligence.

Orbital ATK Announces New Vehicle Launch Campus

Orbital ATK announced plans to open a new campus for vehicle launch operations in Chandler, Ariz. Chandler City Council approved zoning resolutions permitting Orbital to develop its 47-acre campus along Chandler’s Price Corridor, a local tech hub. The expansion will create an estimated 200 jobs.

MDA Provides SAR Imagery for Land and Ocean Monitoring

Maxar Technologies’ MDA entered into multiple contracts involving the provision of RADARSAT-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. MDA will supply SAR imagery to EarthSTAR Inc. through 2024 to support change detection efforts on land, and to the European Maritime Safety Agency for maritime security and pollution monitoring. The firm also renewed an operational support contract with Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND), including access to RADARSAT ground systems for the DND’s real time ship detection capability.

World View Draws Series C Financing

World View announced the closing of a $26.5 million round of Series C financing that included investments from Accel, Canaan, and Norwest Venture Partners. World View will use this funding to support the development of its Stratollite vehicle, which offers high-altitude flights over customized areas of interest. In related news, World View appointed former president and CEO of Skybox Imaging Tom Ingersoll as its new executive chairman.

IDC Report Predicts Massive Growth in AI Spending

The International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems Spending Guide forecasts global spending on AI technology will skyrocket to $19.1 billion in 2018—a 54.2% increase from the spending total in 2017. The most popular use cases this year will be automated customer service, threat detection and prevention, and sales. The report predicts by 2021, spending will be up to $52.2 billion as retailers, banking firms, and manufacturers begin applying AI to streamline their business initiatives.

GeoSpark Rebrands BlueGlass Analytics Platform

OGSystems’ analytics spinoff GeoSpark announced a rebranding of its flagship BlueGlass platform, which will now exist as Hyperion. The move comes after a year of rapid growth for the platform, which has matured into a viable enterprise solution thanks to feedback from initial users. “Hyperion” represents the holistic and near real-time nature of the platform’s risk assessment and security analytics.

Peer Intel

Stephanie O’Sullivan was elected to Battelle’s board of directors, where she’ll support STEM research and education and serve on the organization’s Science and Technology and Community Benefit Committee. O’Sullivan has more than 30 years of experience in the Intelligence Community, including roles at the Office of Naval Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

British defense contractor QinetiQ announced the appointment of Dr. Nic Anderson as managing director of air and space, effective May 2018. Anderson’s career includes tenure at BAE Systems, CAE, and Babcock. He will join QinetiQ’s executive committee in his new role.

Photo Credit: World View

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