WASHINGTON — MAG Aerospace is partnering with artificial intelligence specialist SAS to compete for U.S. Space Force data analytics contracts, the businesses announced Sept. 6
Based in Fairfax, Virginia, MAG Aerospace is considered one of 18 vendors the Space Force chosen in March for a five-year $900 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract overseen by the Space Systems Command.
The IDIQ contract seeks latest ways to employ data analytics tools to show data collected by tracking radars and other sensors into useful intelligence and distribute it to users all over the world.
SAS, based in Cary, North Carolina, developed an AI platform called Viya that may be hosted in any cloud environment, said Grant Brooks, company vice chairman of public sector sales.
“The Space Force wants data analytics, software services, AI and machine learning capabilities that might help decision makers analyze information coming out of the space domain,” Brooks said.
With their cloud-based AI-based analytics, MAG Aerospace and SAS will seek to challenge Palantir, which has won a string of contracts for data-as-a-service.
“Space Force is searching for diverse capabilities,” said Brooks. “They don’t wish to be locked in.”
Agencies try to be “as nimble as possible fairly than tied to a proprietary capability and limited or restricted in how they’ll access or deploy their data assets,” he said.
Not task orders have been issued yet
MAG Aerospace’s senior vice chairman Vincent Mihalik said the corporate has previously partnered with SAS on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data integration projects for the U.S. military.
Mihalik said firms expect the Space Systems Command to begin issuing task orders under the IDIQ after Congress passes a 2024 budget.
“As we understand the intent of the contract, the Space Force seeks to acquire an enterprise data storage and data management platform with a scalable open architecture,” he said. “While the forms of data products on this contract will vary, we predict to ingest a variety of datasets, from space domain awareness to personnel readiness.”
Brooks said the Space Force has a “tremendous need for internet-of-things analytics that may analyze massive amounts of sensor and other data in real-time.”