SCOUT Inc. has announced their Autonomy Software offerings: computer vision and guidance software to make navigation safer and less complex for space operators.
These offerings include software-hardware integration providing: next-generation AI/ML-based autonomy, hybrid data fusion from various sensors, and closed-loop optical navigation control algorithms.
SCOUT’s software and hardware together work seamlessly to enable spacecraft to see and understand their surroundings with computer vision, powered by dedicated AI/ML on-board processing. SCOUT-Vision system’s closed-loop optical navigation capabilities support proximity operations, complex maneuvers, pose estimation, docking assistance, and more. The step the company is taking today will allow their revolutionary software to operate in a myriad of systems, to more rapidly enable spacecraft autonomy.
Last month, SCOUT announced that Momentus, the in-space infrastructure company, selected SCOUT to deliver spacecraft vision capabilities for its upcoming missions. SCOUT will provide Momentus with optical sensing and relative navigation capabilities to support rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) starting in 2022.
“Our first SCOUT-Vision system was launched into orbit in June 2021 and the software packages we’re offering today are due in part to the success of that mission,” said Eric Ingram, Co-founder, and CEO of SCOUT. “SCOUT is working toward a future where spacecraft operations can be autonomous, and space traffic is continuously monitored from orbit. What we’re announcing today gets us a few steps, further along, that journey.”
“Space Operators are interested in executing more autonomously on-orbit and SCOUT is very excited to support those needs for increased situational awareness, maneuver assurance, and safety,” said Vladimir Baranov, CIO/COO of SCOUT. “Our Proximity Operations Algorithms aid in complex operations, high-accuracy onboard state propagation, and manage closed-loop optical navigation.”
SCOUT was founded in 2019 with the mission to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. SCOUT’s in-space products and services, first launched in June 2021, allow spacecraft to see and understand things around them. The orbital distributed sensor network developed by SCOUT will significantly improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and ensure responsible use of the space environment. The company is a Techstars, MassChallenge, and venture-backed startup with ongoing government contracts and commercial paid pilots.