WASHINGTON — Orbital Insight, a geospatial data analytics firm recently acquired by space data company Privateer, has secured a $2 million contract from the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) for commercial geospatial data services, the agency announced July 23.
The contract, awarded under NGA’s new “Commercial Solutions Opening” program, marks the first deal of its kind focused on tracking illicit maritime activity in the Indo-Pacific region. The program was established to address growing military needs for rapid commercial analytics and unclassified intelligence products supporting maritime domain awareness.
“We challenged the commercial industry to show us the most innovative solutions to address hard problems in the Indo-Pacific theater,” said Devin Brande, NGA Director of Commercial Operations.
NGA said that over the next five months, pilot testing will be conducted on Orbital Insight’s proposed solution and capabilities. The results will determine any long-term contracts or broader acquisition efforts.
Orbital Insight, based in Palo Alto, California, specializes in analyzing various forms of geospatial data, including satellite imagery and cell phone geolocation data, to study human activities. The company in May was acquired by Privateer, a space situational awareness firm.
NGA said 82 bids were received for the award, and 12 finalist teams were selected by a panel of analysts and collection managers from NGA and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and maritime experts from the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific.
The 12 finalists included Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Anduril Industries, Inc., BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, Inc., Freedom Technology Solution Group, HII Mission Technologies, Orbital Insight, NV5 Geospatial, Inc., Planet Labs, Royce Geospatial Solutions, Space-Eyes (Channel Logistics), Striveworks and Ursa Space Systems.
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