As the U.S. Department of Defense explores ways Big Tech might help craft its space strategy, Cary’s SAS Institute is among those going after millions of dollars in federal funding.
The analytics company has teamed up with MAG Aerospace of Virginia to pursue opportunities from a $900 million contract awarded by Space Systems Command, which is under the U.S.Space Force.
The contract supports radars and other sensors that track thousands of objects in space. The goal is to convert the sensor data into usable, real-time intelligence for space missions, said Caroline Baldwin, director for SAS Federal.
But it’s not a done deal. Space Systems Command has selected 18 vendors to compete for analytics funding – MAG Aerospace is one of the companies. Others include Agility Consulting, August Schell Enterprises, Avantus Federal, BAE Systems, Bluestaq, C3 AI, Enlighten IT Consulting, Ernst & Young, Kinetica, Map Large, Meroxa.io, NT Concepts, Oracle America, Palantir, Raft, Royce Geospatial Consultants and World Wide Technology.
For SAS, which reported $3 billion in revenue last year, it's the potential for a new line of business as the company, with around 12,000 employees, weighs a decision on whether to go public in 2024.
It's getting close to 'Go Time' at SAS as Jim Goodnight weighs IPO
Last year, the U.S. Space Command tracked more than 47,000 objects in space. SAS could apply AI and machine learning to help the military “make real time decisions,” Baldwin said.
Space Systems Command describes itself as the Space Force’s "field command responsible for acquiring and delivering resilient war fighting capabilities to protect our nation’s strategic advantage in and from space."
Baldwin said a contract win would be game-changing for SAS, as it’s a deviation from typical Department of Defense protocol.
“This represents them going to nontraditional defense contractors and vendors that have commercial capabilities that are proven at scale, to be able to apply them to defense problems,” she said.
It wouldn’t be an entirely new concept for SAS, which has been working with Space Force for the past two years.
Pursuing projects in space is a familiar trajectory for SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. Before starting SAS, he had a position at General Electric (NYSE: GE) working on a project for NASA’s Apollo program.
