Slingshot Aerospace

Slingshot Aerospace has been awarded a $13.3M contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) to develop the Presentation Layer for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) – the future of space traffic coordination! Slingshot will develop the website and user interface for TraCSS, launching in 2025, which will serve as the central platform for satellite operators worldwide to safely navigate space. Slingshot will leverage existing software built for our own space traffic coordination software, Slingshot Beacon, to accelerate the development of an intuitive system that helps satellite operators around the globe coordinate maneuvers to avoid potential collisions. With 86 countries operating over 10,000 active satellites in orbit today and projections of 100,000 active satellites by 2030, space is getting crowded. Our data shows a 17% year-over-year increase in close approaches between satellites this year alone – further proving how crucial the TraCSS mission is. “Slingshot’s role in developing this groundbreaking space traffic coordination platform requires intentionality as well as close mission alignment with OSC. NOAA’s TraCSS initiative offers the opportunity for enhanced space safety and sustainability, fostering growth across the commercial, civil, and academic space sectors for the foreseeable future.” – Tim Solms, CEO, Slingshot Aerospace. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gX8CJqq3

As we head into the new year, we are thrilled to announce that the Slingshot Global Sensor Network has officially surpassed two billion all-time observations! Does this sound familiar? We thought it might. Just 6 months ago we made a similar post about hitting the 1 billion mark. That’s right, what originally took us 7 years to do, we just doubled in half a year. With our recent network expansion bringing 8 LEO optical fences onboard, we are now generating ~5 million observations a day. The Slingshot Global Sensor Network has been performing ground-based, electro-optical space surveillance, both day and night, on satellites from LEO to xGEO since 2017. Today, the expanded sensor network is composed of: 🔒 4 Proprietary Optical Sensor Types – engineered for a wide range of use cases, from daytime tracking of high-interest space objects to persistent monitoring across orbital regimes using uncued optical fences 🌎 20+ Sensor Sites – strategically placed throughout the Northern & Southern Hemispheres to improve revisit rates and object custody 🔭 200+ Optical Sensors – performing visible, near-infrared, and short-wave-infrared space surveillance Heading into 2025, we look forward to continuing to expand and enhance our global sensor network to continue to provide comprehensive, accurate, and timely insights to our customers and partners. Learn more about how the Slingshot Global Sensor Network can support your mission from LEO to GEO and beyond: https://lnkd.in/g4Gn-tFv 

🚨 Slingshot Orbital Alert 🚨 Slingshot is actively tracking the fragmentation of DMSP-5D2 F14 (Norad: 24753). The event was first publicly reported by space-track.org as occurring at 02:10 UTC, although detections from Slingshot’s LEO optical fences indicate the fragmentation likely occurred on December 19th, 2024 prior to 01:15 UTC. According to Slingshot Seradata, this 27 year old, 750 kg, retired satellite is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and was part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The database further indicates a relatively high failure rate of 44% for satellites from this bus family. The satellite is on a sun-synchronous orbit, at an altitude of approximately 850 km. The event was first detected by one of our Horus LEO optical fences in Chile. Another Horus system, located in South Africa, later generated additional collects, and our orbital analysts confirmed the event shortly thereafter. We are currently tasking the Slingshot Global Sensor Network to collect additional photometric and astrometric data on the parent object and neighboring fragments. We will provide more updates as they become available. The video below shows the parent object (DMSP-5D2 F14) entering the frame in the lower right corner of the video at the 5 second mark. A train of objects correlated as associated debris follow the parent, each highlighted in yellow. We’ve temporarily made the DMSP-5D2 F14 Seradata page publicly available where you can find contextual data on the spacecraft: https://lnkd.in/gfbV-FXG Seradata is the industry-leading launch and satellite database, with information including: 🛰️ – Spacecraft Data: Owner, operator, mission, sector, orbit, age, status, payloads, capacity, subsystem data, etc. 🚀 – Launch Data: All orbital launch attempts (successes and failures), relevant sub-orbital launches, launch vehicle specifications, launch vehicle history, launch orders, future launches, etc. 📊 – Anomaly & Insurance Data: Reliability and failure trends for launch vehicles and spacecraft buses, historical insurance claims and loss values, company reports (including financials), etc. Interested in subscribing to Seradata? Interested in state data or uncorrelated track data (UCTs) associated with this event? Contact sales@slingshot.space.

#ICYMI: Dylan C. Kesler, VP of AI and Data Science, joined the Ex Terra Podcast to discuss how Slingshot is using AI to enhance space domain awareness. With the amount of objects in space growing exponentially, it’s become near impossible for humans to sift through and analyze the constant onslaught of data and information. That’s where Agatha comes in. Agatha is Slingshot’s AI system that identifies anomalous spacecraft within large satellite constellations. "We're seeing new constellations of satellites go up, multiple constellations of ten thousand or more satellites go up. Potentially some of the satellites that are hidden within those constellations could have nefarious motives, they could be carrying hidden payloads, and literally acting as if they're one of those satellites in those constellations." - Dylan C. Kesler Check out the podcast: https://lnkd.in/gQ6CQuUa See Agatha in action: https://lnkd.in/gnMrGD6P

We are thrilled to have been selected to present at the 11th Annual Space Traffic Management (STM) Conference at the University of Texas at Austin! Our talk, titled Photometric Analysis of 100,000,000+ Observations across 10,000+ Objects in LEO and Implications for STM, will showcase the results of this large-scale photometric data analysis, details of which will be contained in the accompanying paper. The event takes place March 4-5, 2025. Registration is now open: https://lnkd.in/gzeuQgWy We hope to see you there!

Slingshot Aerospace is thrilled to win the 2024 SpaceNews Icon Award in the category of Space Safety and Security! The SpaceNews Icon Awards celebrate the year’s most iconic achievements shaping the direction of the space industry – highlighting individuals, organizations, and missions that exemplify excellence in advancing space exploration, sustainability, and innovation. Slingshot’s nomination and win highlight our role in leading the AI revolution in space. Specifically, this award recognizes our “innovative contributions to space situational awareness,” with a focus on Agatha, our advanced AI system that identifies anomalous spacecraft within large satellite constellations. See Agatha in action: https://lnkd.in/gnMrGD6P This recognition from SpaceNews highlights the hard work and dedication of our entire team in pushing the boundaries of space tech to create a safer and more sustainable space operating environment. We're honored to be in such esteemed company among the other finalists. #SNICON24, #SpaceNewsIconAwards Photo credit: Jason Dixson for SpaceNews

🛰️ LEO Trend Alert: 2024 saw a 17% year-over-year spike in the average number of close approaches per satellite on Slingshot Beacon – Slingshot’s space traffic coordination application. We recently worked with Reuters to provide Slingshot data for the article linked below, highlighting the increasing need for global cooperation in our ever growing orbits. Slingshot delivers the most comprehensive, accurate, and actionable common operating picture of space. In doing so, we are committed to providing the space community with the data and insights needed to make informed decisions – both in space operations and space policy. Keep a look out in early 2025 for our second annual State of Satellite Deployments & Orbital Operations Report, which will be full of more interesting trends and data points like the one above. Read more on Reuters: https://lnkd.in/gbQxeTR9

📣 Calling all 7th & 8th grade students! Slingshot is proud to support the Space Workforce For Tomorrow’s (SWFT) 2025 National Space Day Space Sustainability Competition! The competition invites teams of middle school students to design a solution that tackles the issue of space debris - a growing problem the industry faces. “By engaging students in solving real-world challenges, we’re not only fostering innovation but also equipping them with critical thinking and collaboration skills essential for any career in our increasingly tech-driven world.” - Melanie Stricklan, Executive Director, SWFT Students in grades 7-8 are invited to submit their projects by Friday, March 21, 2025, with winners announced on National Space Day Friday, May 2, 2025. Registration link in the comments below. Please share with the middle school kids in your life! Also - check out Slingshot’s Chief Science Officer, Belinda Marchand, in the video below! https://lnkd.in/g-5qwV-E

Our team is headed to Bremen, Germany next week for Space Tech Expo Europe! Be sure to visit us on the exhibiting floor at stand W20 to learn more about our industry-leading solutions for: 🌎 Space Domain Awareness 🚦 Space Traffic Coordination 🛰️ Satellite Operations 🛡️ Space Security & Defense 🌐 Training & Education 📊 Space Market Analysis Drop us a note at info@slingshot.space to schedule a meeting.

We're excited to announce that Slingshot Aerospace has joined SDA TAP Lab’s Cohort 5! Over the next 3 months, our team will be collaborating with industry partners to tackle a critical challenge - detecting camouflage, concealment, deception, or maneuver (CCDM) in spacecraft. During this cohort, we'll be building upon Agatha, our advanced AI system that identifies anomalous behavior within satellite constellations. See Agatha in action: https://lnkd.in/gnMrGD6P Interested in learning more about our cutting-edge AI capabilities for space domain awareness? Reach out to sales@slingshot.space.