Weekly GEOINT Community News

NGA Seeks Commercial High-Speed Film Scanner, Announces Academic Grants Competition; PlanetRisk Awarded U.S. Army Information Sharing Contract; Ball Aerospace Transfers Weather Satellite to NASA; More

noaa-min

NGA Seeks Commercial High-Speed Film Scanner, Announces Academic Grants Competition

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is seeking a commercial provider to design and develop a high-speed film scanner capable of digitizing more than 170 million historic aerial and satellite film images. Because the images range from 1935 to present, they will serve as a valuable resource in understanding how landscapes change over time. NGA hopes to use these datasets to help train predictive analysis and automatic detection tools, and is exercising an Other Transaction Authority to open up this search to non-traditional partners.

The agency also announced a grants competition inviting eligible applicants to submit innovative ideas for path-breaking research to advance the GEOINT mission. NGA will award multiple academic grants, each equivalent to $200,000 per year, to eligible applicants through December 31 in response to the posted Broad Agency Announcement. NGA is seeking research in general areas such as GEOINT data and services, predictive intelligence and anticipatory analysis as well as specific topics of interest including automated geo-located information from small unmanned aircraft systems video, geomagnetic field observation and modeling for enhanced positioning and navigation support, and synthetic aperture radar signal and image processing.

PlanetRisk Awarded U.S. Army Information Sharing Contract 

PlanetRisk was awarded a four-and-a-half-year contract to use its global risk platform to power the U.S. Army’s Joint Analytic Real-time Virtual Information Sharing System (JARVISS), a cloud-based enterprise software that identifies and shares threat information near military facilities and operations. JARVISS is planned for an Army-wide deployment via the PlanetRisk platform in Q3 2018.

DigitalGlobe Introduces Interactive Navigator Tool

DigitalGlobe announced a new, interactive tool called Navigator, designed as a starting point to learn about DigitalGlobe’s services, software, and imagery for those new to the geospatial industry. Users identify areas of interest within DigitalGlobe’s product portfolio, narrowing by industry and use case. Navigator will make product recommendations, link to related resources, and show available DigitalGlobe imagery. The goal with Navigator is to make geospatial technology and analytic tools as accessible and easy-to-use as possible.

AECOM and SitScape Announce Strategic Partnership

AECOM and situational awareness software provider SitScape have entered a five-year strategic partnership in which SitScape’s Digital Enterprise Enablement Platform and other software will be used internally within AECOM’s Management Services group. This agreement formalizes the working relationship initially established in 2016.

Jacobs Receives NASA Contract Extension

Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded a two-year, $437.5 million extension to its JSC Engineering, Technology and Science contract with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Jacobs will continue to provide engineering services, operations support, and research and development to NASA programs, including the International Space Station, through April 2020.

USAF Seeks Operations Support for Space Surveillance System

The U.S. Air Force released a notice that it is seeking potential sources to provide operations and maintenance support to its Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System. Partners would conduct sensor operations, exercise and testing, and logistics management at locations in New Mexico, Hawaii, and British Indian Ocean Territory. Responses to the notice are due April 23.

Ball Aerospace Transfers Weather Satellite to NASA

Ball Aerospace completed the handover of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System to NASA. The satellite, named NOAA-20, measures atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface data with full global coverage twice daily to enable precise weather forecasting. Ball Aerospace built the spacecraft as well as its ozone mapping instrument, and has transferred flight systems, launch services, and pieces of the ground segment to NASA. NOAA will retain the ability to use the satellite data for its own services or research.

Peer Intel

Woolpert announced the hiring of Steve Ambrose as new program director of government solutions. Ambrose brings with him more than 40 years experience in earth science and data visualization, including positions with NOAA, the National Weather Service, and more. Ambrose will support Woolpert’s expansion plan within government agencies and the federal intelligence community.

After completing its $9.7 billion acquisition of CRSA Inc., General Dynamics established the leadership team at the revamped General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) branch. Amy Gilliland will remain president, a role she began last September; Bernie Guerry will become chief operating officer; Alison Harbrecht will be chief finance officer; George Batsakis will be chief growth officer; and Kristie Grinnell will be chief information officer. They, along with six vice presidents and a chief of staff, will lead GDIT as federal agencies seek increasingly complex but affordable IT contracts.

HawkEye 360 announced an expansion of its advisory board to include two new members, The Honorable Robert Work, who recently served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) John F. Mulholland Jr., as well as the appointment of Letitia A. Long as chairperson.

Photo Credit: NOAA

Weekly GEOINT Community News

Esri Joins ERES and K&A to Create Geospatial Real Estate Solution, L3Harris 3D Printed Space Experiment Flies on the International Space Station, Cesium, bringing the real world to Unreal Engine, and more.

Weekly GEOINT Community News

AWS - Discovering Hot Topics using Machine Learning, Raytheon Launches NASA Data Initiative, Oracle Announces Java 16, Peraton Announces New Subsidiary Focused on Unmanned Systems, and More

Weekly GEOINT Community News

TCarta Awarded NOAA Grant to Enhance Satellite Derived Bathymetry Technology, Lockheed Martin and NEC Put AI to Work on Programs Like NASA's Artemis Mission, Solinftec And Planet Partner to Provide Real-Time Agronomic Insights, and More