PATRICK TUCKER
A satellite imaging company that played a key role in revealing Russian forces massing on Ukraine’s border prior to invasion launched a new product Wednesday that uses AI and satellite data to provide “predictive intelligence” on hundreds of sites around the world.
Maxar’s new product, “Sentry”, provides a way for multiple satellite companies to collaborate and share data in order to keep more sensors on emerging developments.
Maxar described Sentry as AI-powered software that can function as its own mini intelligence agency, bringing together data from not only high-resolution imaging satellites but also other intelligence sources, potentially including synthetic aperture radar satellites that use microwave pulses to “see” through clouds or at night, electro-optical satellites that can measure things like weather patterns and vegetation. Sentry can also “orchestrate” satellite data collection—meaning task multiple satellite constellations to go and collect at a specific time and place—to ensure important developments don’t go unnoticed.
The company is already using some pieces of the Sentry system to help U.S. government agencies track things like illicit smuggling at sea and monitor key areas of interest like shipyards, airfields, and urban centers. “These capabilities enabled rapid identification of aircraft, ships, vehicles and railcars, object counts and classification—laying the groundwork for identifying trends and anomalies,” a Maxar official told Defense One in an email.
Many satellite companies are pushing AI analysis of satellite data (and getting contracts for data and analysis.) But Maxar chief product officer Peter Wilczynski told Defense One that Sentry can make the data those companies provide more valuable by combining it with what Maxar collects and then scheduling observations over key spots.
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