Albedo has received a $1.25 million contract to support nighttime thermal imaging operations for the US National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC).
Under the contract, the Colorado-based satellite company will gather the highest-resolution commercial satellite images from visible and thermal infrared spectrums at night.
The data will be evaluated to support NASIC’s ongoing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) projects.
“Nighttime commercial imagery is currently limited to synthetic aperture radar. High-resolution thermal infrared will provide a new commercial remote sensing solution for the US Space Force,” US Space Force ISR Deputy Director Joseph Rouge explained.
Thermal Imaging for Defense
Work for the contract involves validating end-to-end radiometric and image quality predictions, flight sensor laboratory analysis, and high-fidelity simulated imagery generation from data collected via a flight sensor.
Albedo will explore satellite constellation capacity to provide the necessary imagery and combine them to identify their potential use cases for the US government.
“Our thermal imagery continues to gain traction in defense and commercial markets – specifically the ability to extract meaningful intelligence from the combination of our Visible & Thermal imagery during day-time,” Albedo CEO Topher Haddad stated.
”Now for the first time, we’re excited to showcase Albedo’s 24/7 temporal advantage of thermal imaging by working with USAF, USSF, and NASIC on this effort.”
Countering Emerging Air, Space Threats
The agreement follows a previous award to research the performance, mission effectiveness, and application of Albedo’s satellite imaging capabilities for US defense.
“We’re committed to accelerating the Air Force and Space Force’s ability to understand its performance against our problem sets and apply our capabilities on-orbit,” Rouge said.
“Nighttime thermal infrared imaging can help our intelligence analysts, warfighters, decision makers, and field operators solve complex emerging threats day and night.”