USGIF to Host Two-Day Small Sat Workshop

USGIF will host its second two-day Small Sat Workshop—one day unclassified and another classified—at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in Springfield, Va., Nov. 14-15 as part of the Foundation’s 2016 GEOINT Community Week.

“This remarkable, two-day event will be a unique opportunity to discuss the breadth and depth of small satellite related issues,” said USGIF CEO Keith Masback. “We had great feedback from last year’s participants and there was overwhelming demand to offer the next iteration of this workshop. We are picking up where we left off last year in what was hailed as a valuable and enlightening experience. Small sats are a very important topic, not just from a national security perspective, but also for the future of U.S. space commerce.”

The unclassified day, titled “Making Use of Small Satellites: GEOINT and Open Source Analysis,” will include remarks by NGA Director Robert Cardillo as well as keynotes by Fred Kennedy III of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia (invited). The day will also feature panels on turning pixels into insight, launch, and policy, with representatives from DARPA, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Planet, Terra Bella, Virgin Galactic, and many more. The unclassified workshop will conclude with a discussion on NGA and the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) joint Commercial GEOINT Activity by both agencies’ program leads, followed by a networking reception.

“The Small Satellite Workshop will connect government organizations, industry partners, and commercial entities through their common interest in this small spacecraft form factor,” said Jessica “JB” Young of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, co-chair of USGIF’s Small Satellite Working Group. “By connecting commercial and industry small satellite providers directly to Intelligence Community work force and key government decision-makers, we can start to establish a common vision for the future of space and directly address the end mission goals of small satellites.”

The classified day, titled “Small Satellites and the Classified Domain: Shaken, Not Stirred,” will include keynotes by Winston Beauchamp, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for Space, and Randy Barber, director of NRO’s Mission Integration Directorate (invited). Classified panels are titled “Gleaning Answers from the Data Volume” and “What’s Next?” and will feature speakers from NGA, NRO, the Air Force Research Laboratory, DigitalGlobe, Northrop Grumman, and Penn State. The classified program will also include flash talks on “Government & Small Sats” by NGA and NRO.

“Through a variety of forums, this event offers members of the small sat community the opportunity to address burning issues such as how to turn the collected data into actionable information, answer policy questions, and discuss concerns about dedicated launches,” Young said. “Various companies and government organizations will get a chance to present their activities in this arena and talk about what need gaps they still face. Join us in cultivating a culture of inter-agency and cross community collaboration within the small satellite regime.”

Click here to register for one or both days of the Small Sat Workshop. Registration for the workshop closes Monday, Nov. 7, at 3 p.m. EST. In addition to the small sat programming, 2016 GEOINT Community Week will include events such as a young professionals workshop, a special edition of GEOINTeraction Tuesday with NGA Director of Operations Maj. Gen. Linda Urrutia-Varhall, NGA Tech Showcase East, and more. Click here to learn more about GEOINT Community Week events and to register.

Photo Credit: Planet