SANTA FE, N.M.- Descartes Labs, a New Mexico-based geospatial analytics company, today announced that it has won a $2.2 million direct award contract through the Air Force Research Lab’s (AFRL) Space Technology Advanced Research (STAR) program.
With this contract, the Descartes Labs Platform will empower AFRL to generate real-time analytics at a global scale and improve decision making down to the tactical level. Through advanced artificial intelligence and computer vision, the platform will also enhance AFRL’s ability to generate moving target indication (MTI) data and information for ground and airborne targets, a previously unsolved challenge that exists within the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) community. Access to the Descartes Labs Platform will increase operational speed and effectiveness across all levels of the Air Force agency.
“Through the implementation of multi-sensor analytics, the Air Force is creating a forward-thinking state-of-the-art national security system,” said Mike Warren, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Descartes Labs. “Through increasing use of diverse types of data, the Air Force is laying the groundwork to solve tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance problems now and in the future. We are proud to continue building our relationship with the Air Force and our colleagues at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, offering all of the capabilities of our platform to assist them and their interagency stakeholders in achieving mission success.”
This win comes shortly after Descartes Labs was awarded a Direct to Phase II AFWERX contract in July 2020 to create a single source of truth for the Air Force by fusing together multi-sensor data. Learnings from the Phase I and II AFWERX contracts, the DARPA Geospatial Cloud Analytics contract, and subsequent follow on work with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) will help inform Descartes Labs’ continued work with the public sector.
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Technology Advanced Research (STAR) program began in July 2019 to develop enabling technologies and accelerate contract award times for space flight, on-orbit servicing, debris management, controlled reentry, ground systems, communications links, command and control, advanced spacecraft manufacturing technologies, and space system user equipment.
About Descartes Labs
Descartes Labs is a geospatial analytics company that enables organizations to understand their relationship with the physical world. We provide a unified modeling platform for spatial, market, sensor, and customer data that generates scientifically validated analytics at global scale. Headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Descartes Labs has a presence across the United States and serves customers globally. For more information, see www.descarteslabs.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
