SABER ASTRONAUTICS, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: AFX234-DCSO2

Description

The USAF Science and Technology Strategy for 2030 and Beyond outlines the great power challenge the United States faces from China and Russia. These actors are constantly developing new technologies and capabilities that are a central threat to American security. The innovations in this proposal are focused on Space Mobility and Logistics, Space Domain Awareness, and Blue Sky strategic capabilities. To win the space tech development race, the United States must leverage its industrial and technological advantage, open new innovation paths, and tap into the best and brightest minds of our nation and that of our allies and partners. We can no longer afford to be constrained to a paradigm that directs specified solutions over a span of decades while our competition moves at breakneck speed, unconstrained by ethics or international norms, to bring their new capabilities to bear. USSPACECOM has outlined the need to deliver decisive space capabilities into the hands of warfighters faster and with more breadth of opportunity than our adversaries can match. In order to deliver a broad pool of capabilities to our warfighters, the DoD must have a mechanism to deliver capabilities at the speed of relevance. SpaceX’s use and strategic defense of its Starlink systems is a prime example of the industry’s ability to support military operations through rapid delivery and agile operations.  In response to the need for rapid access to commercial capabilities from the US and trusted ally innovation centers, Saber Astronautics proposes to develop the Space Application Marketplace (SAM). SAM closes the loop between the massive untapped potential in our innovation sectors and the warfighters needing rapid access to the newest innovation by creating a platform for companies to build, test, and deploy their applications to high-side networks within weeks, instead of months to years. Just as the app store on mobile devices revolutionized e-commerce and created new markets for developers across the globe, the Space Application Marketplace aims to revolutionize the way DoD entities field commercial technologies. Creating an app store on top of Space Cockpit will give game-changing capability to warfighters: Providing direct access to a broad new pool of technical capabilities, from a wide range of commercial companies; Gives warfighters the ability to give rapid and direct feedback to suppliers based on operational needs; Allows rapid acquisition and rapid improvement without requiring suppliers to wait years for new Certificate to Field processes.  Dynamic war requires dynamic change. Saber will deliver SAM as an extension of our Space CockpitTM program.  Space Cockpit is already certified, deployed to high-side networks, and in use by hundreds of Space Force Guardians and allied space professionals.