WASHINGTON — HawkEye 360, a business operator of remote-sensing satellites, announced July 6 it was chosen by the federal government of Australia to assist detect illegal fishing activity using radio-frequency sensors.
The corporate received a contract of undisclosed value from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for a pilot program in support of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency.
The agency, based in Honiara, Solomon Islands, was established in 1979 to assist its 17 member countries manage their tuna fisheries and track illicit activities.
HawkEye 360, headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, uses radio-frequency data analytics to geolocate electronic emissions and draw insights.
Radio-frequency identification
The corporate operates a constellation of 21 satellites that detect, characterize and geolocate radio frequency signals from emitters used for communication, navigation and security.
HawkEye 360’s satellites fly in triangular formations in low Earth orbit. As a cluster passes over an area, each satellite observes signal waveforms and downlinks the information to a cloud system on the bottom where it’s analyzed.
Under the contract with Australia, HawkEye 360 will provide satellite RF maritime analytics and training through 2023, said Alex Fox, chief growth officer of HawkEye 360.
“The Pacific Islands encompass an enormous and highly trafficked region with wealthy fisheries resources that present complex challenges for maritime domain awareness,” he said.
The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and its members will get data, analytics services and training support to discover illicit maritime activity inside their waters, Fox said. By analyzing RF data, he added, HawkEye 360 can track maritime activity that will not be detectable by Automatic Identification Systems (AIS).