APTIMA INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF192-001

Description

Current Space Situational Awareness (SSA) systems hamper effective decision-making and reduce timeliness of Indications and Warnings (I&W) by stove-piping and compartmentalizing information. Patterns of Life Activity Recognition and Inference System (POLARIS) provides timely I&W by learning satellite Patterns of Life (PoL), predicting future maneuvers, and rapidly alerting operators about anomalous maneuvers. A lightweight prototype of POLARIS has been used by real space operators during DARPA Hallmark evaluation events and their feedback has iteratively guided the development of POLARIS to better meet mission requirements. Additionally, that same prototype was integrated into two DoD Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) testbeds in under 3 months, proving its flexibility and rapid integration capabilities. During Phase I, Aptima will perform a feasibility study using an approach based on the three-phased “Lean Start Up Method.� First, Aptima will analyze the DoD market by developing a Mission Model Canvas. Second, Aptima will engage with existing and new customers to demonstrate the POLARIS prototype or “Minimum Viable Product.� Third, Aptima will re-focus and pivot POLARIS based on customer feedback. Aptima, and our commercialization arm, Aptima Ventures, have demonstrated the ability to transition SBIR topics into programs of record for the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps.