 | 🤖 AI Insights from the Brains at SpaceNews 🧠 |
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Welcome Back, Fellow Meat Computers!
This week, we're diving into some big developments as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency makes a major investment in AI for satellite imagery analysis. We're also spotlighting Collimate Space, a newcomer set on enhancing satellite communications with AI.
From NASA's AI-driven satellite swarms to AI's role in unraveling the universe's mysteries, there's plenty to explore. We're excited to have you with us as we navigate these thrilling intersections of space and technology.
Ad Astra et Ultra, Cum AI 🤖🚀
— Brian Berger, SpaceNews editor-in-chief
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the SpaceNext: AI newsletter yet, now's the time! Soon, this newsletter will be available exclusively to our opt-in subscribers—don't miss out on staying informed about the latest in space and AI. Sign up today!
| | |  | | | 🧠 Boosting AI Capabilities at the NGA
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is set to invest up to $700 million to enhance AI for satellite imagery analysis. This initiative focuses on data labeling, converting raw images into valuable data for machine-learning models by tagging objects like buildings, roads, and vegetation. NGA is also launching a project to ensure these AI models' reliability and ethical use, keeping with Department of Defense standards and a recent White House directive.
Why it matters:
This initiative marks NGA's largest contract for data labeling, aiming to significantly improve the accuracy and trustworthiness of intelligence derived from satellite data.
Opportunity for Industry:
Companies specializing in AI, data annotation, and geospatial intelligence have a significant opportunity to secure contracts and partner with NGA in this expansive initiative. Potential contenders include the big primes and the likes of Palantir Technologies, C3.ai, Maxar Technologies, Planet, and startups like Slingshot Aerospace.
Acquisition Timeline:
A draft RFP is expected by year's end, with the final RFP early next year. Proposals will be due about 60 days after the final RFP, with contract awards anticipated by mid-2025.
Winner Takes All?
NGA will likely award multiple contracts to various companies, enabling diverse solutions and approaches to enhance its AI capabilities for satellite imagery analysis.
| | | 📡 On Our Radar: Taking the Guess Work Out of Downlink Predictions
A new Silicon Valley space startup is on our radar this week after appearing for the first time in SpaceNews. Collimate Space is tackling a key challenge for satellite operators with its new AI-driven tool designed to predict the success of satellite downlinks. Collimate's technology analyzes factors like space weather, terrestrial weather and ground-based antenna profiles to help operators optimize communication schedules and improve service reliability.
Key Figures: CEO Guillermo Jenaro and CTO Anthony Xiao hatched the idea for Collimate after working together at Acubed, Airbus' Silicon Valley innovation hub. Jenaro is a 20-year veteran of Airbus, and Xiao brings expertise from Slingshot Aerospace.
How is Collimate Training its Models? Collimate uses deep learning to train its models, leveraging historical data from various sources. This includes space weather data from NOAA, terrestrial weather data from national weather services and private providers, and published information on antenna profiles.
What's in a Name?
In optics, collimate means to align or make parallel. For Collimate Space, the name symbolizes the company's goal to take scattered information and communications, and align them into a cohesive and useful form.
| | | AI in Action
🚀 AI in Orbit: A swarm of four formation-flying cubesats, built by Blue Canyon Technologies and launched by NASA just over a year ago with Rocket Lab, is set to continue testing its AI-driven capabilities in space. These Starling satellites, which marked their one-year anniversary in orbit in July, received a 19-month mission extension earlier this year, thanks in part to the promising results from the Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment (StarFOX).
In August, researchers presented a paper at the Small Satellite Conference explaining how StarFOX enabled the four Starling satellites to calculate their orbits by combining visual images from star trackers with robotics algorithms, all without the aid of GPS.
Takeaway: These advancements lay the groundwork for future missions like NASA's HelioSwarm, a set of nine satellites launching in 2028 to study solar wind turbulence, to use similar formation flying techniques, highlighting the growing role of autonomous satellite swarms in deep space exploration.
🔭AI in Astronomy: Researchers from the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York used AI to determine five key cosmological parameters that describe the universe's fundamental properties. By analyzing data from over 100,000 galaxies observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the AI model extracted more detailed information than traditional methods, reducing uncertainty. The study was published Aug. 21 in Nature Astronomy
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| | | 🐝 Buzzword Watch: Model Collapse
You might be seeing the term "model collapse" popping up in the news lately, but don't let the term fool you—it has nothing to do with runway mishaps at Fashion Week.
In the AI world, model collapse refers to the dumbing down that arises when AI systems are trained on too much of their own data. This self-referential training, as documented in a recent paper published in Nature, can cause the AI's performance to degrade over time, leading to less accurate and more homogenous outputs.
Science writer Aatish Bhatia, writing last week in The New York Times, likened model collapse to inbreeding, explaining how repeated exposure to AI-generated data reduces diversity and effectiveness, much like how genetic inbreeding can reduce genetic diversity and lead to defects.
If you prefer a comparison with fewer "Deliverance" connotations, interdisciplinary social scientist Jathan Sadowski coined the term "Hapsburg AI" on his podcast last year, describing AI becoming an "inbred mutant" when trained on outputs from other generative AIs. | | |
🌌 ESA's First AI in Space Conference is Just Two Weeks Away
The first joint European Space Agency SPAICE Conference / IAA Conference on AI in and for Space is happening soon. Scheduled for Sept. 17-19, 2024, at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in the UK, this event will delve into topics like Earth observation data fusion, AI anomaly detection for spacecraft, and geospatial data recommendations using large language models.
Although registration closed Sept. 2, for those who made the cutoff the conference will feature a range of discussions on AI's role in advancing space technologies.
👏 A special thanks to the ESA AI fellow and new SN AI reader who brought this conference to our attention—your insights help us keep our readers informed.
🗓️ If you know of any other upcoming events that combine space and AI, we'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line with details on events worth sharing.
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| | About SpaceNext AI
SpaceNext AI is a weekly newsletter that explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the space industry. We provide concise and insightful coverage on AI's impact on space exploration and technology.
With over 25 years in space journalism, including my time as editor-in-chief of SpaceNews, I've covered everything from NASA missions to the ongoing transformation of the commercial space sector. While I'm not an AI expert, I've explored AI tools to understand their potential.
How We Use AI
While we use AI tools to streamline research and drafting, every piece of content is thoroughly reviewed and refined by me. I think of AI as an assistant that helps gather information and identify trends, but every insight and decision is guided by my editorial judgment. I'm here to ensure that our content remains accurate, engaging, and focused on what matters most to our readers. — Brian
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Explore more stories and in-depth coverage on SpaceNews.com, and follow our live updates on X and LinkedIn. Stay informed by following our coverage on how AI continues to redefine what's possible in space.
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