Saber Astronautics wins USAF SBIR grant for threat detection software

Australian firm Saber Astronautics has received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the US Air Force for its Sentinel space traffic management software.

Sentinel mitigates risk for spacecraft by improving the onboard data analytics processes, in turn providing improved threat detection. As part of the agreement, Saber will support the military requirements of the US Space Force in geosynchronous orbit.

Nathan Parrott, director of Saber USA, welcomed the grant and explained what impact it would have on the space industry: “One of the problems we have with space traffic management is that operators are overwhelmed in a sea of data, preventing them from identifying risky scenarios before they happen. Sentinel is an automated system that can continuously keep an eye on this ocean and pull out just the events that operators are interested in most, saving them time and improving accuracy,” he said.

Saber has already incorporated Sentinel into its Responsive Space Operations Centre (RSOC) in Adelaide, the Mission Control Centre that will oversee multiple concurrent space missions in the US and Australia. The RSOC is scheduled to be launched officially later this month.