Space Force using Anduril software to integrate U.S. space surveillance sensors

WASHINGTON — The Space Force is using a software platform developed by Anduril Industries to integrate data from a decades-old network of space surveillance sensors. 

DoD announced July 12 that Anduril won an $8 million contract extension to field its mesh networking software at Space Surveillance Network sites through December 2024. The software autonomously analyzes data from sensors and provides an integrated picture.

The SSN is a collection of sensors dispersed across multiple sites worldwide first deployed in the late 1950s to provide early warnings of ballistic missile launches.

The network has a mix of conventional radars, phased-array radars and telescopes for missile detection, and to track satellites and space debris.

Creating a mesh network

The Space Force so far has awarded Anduril $10.5 million in Small Business Innovation Research contracts for the company’s Lattice networking software that autonomously parses and integrates data from third-party sensors and data sources.

Anduril, a defense technology startup founded in 2017, said it adapted the Lattice software for the space surveillance network and “transformed SSN sites from a legacy system of communication to a resilient, high speed and integrated operational mesh network.”

The Lattice mesh networking technology has been used by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to build a “virtual wall” along the U.S. border with Mexico. 

The company last year won a nearly $1 billion contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command to use the Lattice platform to detect and track drone threats. 

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