Weekly GEOINT Community News

McGill University Partners with Planet to Track Daily Changes in Earth Systems, United Technologies and Raytheon Complete Merger of Equals Transaction, SAIC Awarded Security Operations Contract from Texas Department of Information Resources, and More

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McGill University Partners with Planet to Track Daily Changes in Earth Systems

McGill University has partnered with Planet to provide its students with subscription access to the company’s data and satellite imagery. Students at McGill will now be able to use the growing catalogue of PlanetScope satellite imagery for non-commercial research and classroom activities across a variety of disciplines. McGill biology professor Catherine Potvin is excited about the potential applications for tropical forest science and conservation in the Darién in Panama, where she works with indigenous groups. “We’re eager to use Planet imagery in these forests, where our team has been ‘hunting’ for big trees at the landscape level,” Potvin says. “Because Planet’s spatial resolution is 3.7 m per pixel, we can look for large tree crowns, which is vital to our conservation and research efforts.”

United Technologies and Raytheon Complete Merger of Equals Transaction

Raytheon Technologies announced the successful completion of the all-stock merger of equals transaction between Raytheon and United Technologies, following the completion by United Technologies of its previously announced spin-offs of its Carrier and Otis businesses. The combined company expects to introduce breakthrough technologies at an accelerated pace across high-value areas such as hypersonics, directed energy, avionics, and cybersecurity.

SAIC Awarded Security Operations Contract from Texas Department of Information Resources

The State of Texas Department of Information Resources has awarded SAIC a Security Operations Contract, with a projected value of $36 million over the initial four-year term, to provide cybersecurity services protecting data center infrastructure and network systems. SAIC will implement security technology and practices to expand, improve, and enhance the Data Center Services (DCS) program’s security posture. As part of that effort, SAIC will work to enhance the Department of Information Resources’ investment in privileged access management tools.

NASA Awarded Propellants and Life Support Services Contract

AECOM Management Services has been awarded the Kennedy Space Center Propellants and Life Support Services II (KPLSS II) contract by NASA to support the agency’s need for propellants and life support services for NASA and NASA-sponsored payloads. The KPLSS II contract is a fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, with an award-term incentive and a maximum potential value of $165 million. As a multi-user spaceport for launches of government and commercial spaceflights, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station have a recurrent need for propellants and life support services. The KPLSS II contract serves a critical role in supporting launch operational requirements by providing propellants and life support operations, maintenance, and engineering support for assigned systems and equipment.

Peer Intel

The Honorable Susan Gordon, former principal deputy director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has joined the board of directors at CACI International. She brings three decades of intelligence community experience as the company aims to grow technology and service offerings for the IC sector in the cyber, artificial intelligence, and space areas.

DLT Solutions has appointed Chris Wilkinson as President. In this role, Wilkinson will lead DLT and Tech Data’s combined public sector strategy and oversee DLT’s day-to-day operations.

Featured Image: McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Photo Credit: Planet Labs Inc.

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Weekly GEOINT Community News

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Weekly GEOINT Community News

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