DARPA and Slingshot Aerospace develop satellite identification system for US
DARPA has collaborated with start-up Slingshot Aerospace, to create a system capable of identifying potentially harmful satellites concealed within mega-constellations. The tool, named Agatha, is designed to detect adversary satellites that could pose threats. This development comes in response to the anticipated increase in the number of low Earth orbit satellites, which could be exploited by malicious actors for concealing weapons or spy satellites.
How is Agatha trained?
Slingshot was officially chosen for the Predictive Reporting and Enhanced Constellation Objective Guide (PRECOG) program by DARPA in March. The government awarded Slingshot $1 million for this initiative. To train Agatha, Slingshot generated 60 years' worth of synthetic constellation data, enabling the system to discern minor differences in satellite behavior, and infer true operational directives. Dylan Kesler, Slingshot's Director of Data Science, noted that these "tells" could be minor changes in a satellite's mass, or differences in communication with Earth.
Real-world testing and data gathering
After initial training on simulations, Agatha was tested against real-world constellations via identifying non-malicious outlier satellites within existing fleets. The program now operates on Slingshot's space domain awareness platform, and collects data from the firm's Global Sensor Network, its Seradata database, and other public and proprietary sources. This real-world testing and data-gathering process is crucial in refining Agatha's ability to identify adversary satellites, amid the growing number of mega-constellations.
Agatha's role in future space security
The creation of Agatha is particularly important, considering the plans by countries like China to launch several mega-constellations over the next decade. Slingshot's VP of Strategy and Policy, Audrey Schaffer, emphasized the tool's significance stating, "But as the growth and activity in space just increases exponentially, it's going to become impossible for a human to really sift through all of this data without the help of tools like Agatha." This highlights Agatha's crucial role in ensuring future space security.
