Weekly GEOINT Community News

NGA Breaks Ground on N2W Campus

Politicians, intelligence and military personnel, and other civic leaders gathered in St. Louis to break ground on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) new campus. Next NGA West (N2W), located at the corner of Jefferson and Cass Avenues, puts NGA in the heart of a community of outstanding academic institutions and cutting-edge industry. It is scheduled to open and be fully operational by 2025.

Northrop Grumman Advances IAMD Battle Command System

Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a $60.6 million contract by the U.S. Army to advance the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) program. The company’s IAMD IBCS program integrates all available sensors, enhancing survivability through eliminating vectors of attack and expanding the area of protection. This contract enables ongoing support for engineering, logistics and integration, test and evaluation, and training and program management as it progresses through the design and development phase in preparation for fielding.

Peraton Awarded Satellite Ground Terminal Prototype

Peraton was awarded a 20-month contract by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Center Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) under the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) to develop the Satellite Ground Terminal Prototype for the U.S. Army. The SpEC OTA promotes collaboration conducive to this research and development initiative. This prototype will demonstrate flexibility to advance technology and capability insertion, while concurrently reducing program development cycles and related costs.

Raytheon Brings Autonomous Mission Management to Space

Raytheon has designed Pit Boss, an autonomous mission management system for DARPA’s Blackjack satellite constellation, with prime Scientific Systems Company, Incorporated. The Blackjack constellation will operate in low Earth orbit. It will network sensors to provide persistent global coverage for many applications, including missile warning. It aims to use advanced architecture, processors, and encryption to autonomously collect and process data from the entire Blackjack constellation.

General Dynamics Provides Improved Secure Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Data

General Dynamics Mission Systems announced installation of a new and improved GPS onto U.S. military vehicles in Germany, which allows U.S. forces to operate in an environment where GPS signals are degraded or denied. The system began fielding in September on select Stryker armored fighting vehicles and could eventually extend to thousands of vehicles across Europe.

Lockheed Martin Defends Against Ballistic Missile Threats

Lockheed Martin contracted by the Japanese Ministry of Defense to produce two Solid-State Radar (SSR) antenna sets for Aegis Ashore Japan. This technology, derived from current radar programs and Lockheed Martin investment, will also be utilized through partnerships with the U.S. Government, Spain, and Canada. To date, the technology has been selected for a total of 24 systems.

Jacobs Announces Space Technology Challenge Winner

Jacobs sponsored a nationwide competition, in support of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, to identify new space exploration technologies or innovations with game-changing and breakthrough potential. As winners of the Jacobs Space Technology Challenge, a team of Georgia Tech student researchers led by Professor W. Jud Ready will receive a $10,000 prize for their proposal entitled, “Ionic Liquid Interactions with Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Supercapacitors.”

 Capella Space Applies SAR Data to Military Virtual Reality Software

Capella Space was awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to apply SAR data to the military branch’s virtual reality software to simulate potential adversary scenarios, support missile defense, and create predictive intelligence that foresees foreign threats. Capella will also supply an in-house analytics service to deliver change detection and object identification, providing rapid and automatic insights from satellite data.

Peer Intel

Nationally recognized information technology (IT) leader Dr. John Zangardi joined Leidos as senior vice president of business initiatives and strategic partnerships. In this new role, he will enhance technical core capabilities and foster strategic relationships that support the company’s overall strategic direction.

Feature image: Illustration of design plan for NGA’s N2W campus in St. Louis. (Credit: NGA)