GEOST bets on focal plane, edge computing capabilities for PWSA fire control

An artist’s rendition of Sierra Space’s T2TL low Earth orbit satellite prototype for the PWSA. (Sierra Space)

Arizona-based sensor payload company GEOST is betting big that improved focal plane fidelity, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled imagery processing at the edge, will be the solution for the new fire-control payload being developed for the Pentagon’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

GEOST – a subsidiary of LightRidge Solutions – and the Space Development Agency (SDA) in February reached a deal for GEOST to develop and produce 16 fire-control mission payloads for Tranche 2 Tracking Layer (T2TL) of the PWSA.

The PWSA payload contract “is a transformational win” for the GEOST team, according to Bill Gattle, CEO of LightRidge Solutions.

The payload development deal “does open up new markets … proving that some of the things we have done, at a smaller scale, we can now do at a larger scale”, he said during an early February interview with
Janes
.