Space-powered defence and intelligence technology company Kleos Space S.A. (ASX: KSS) confirms it is now successfully processing RF data collected by the Vigilance Mission (KSF1) satellites through its signal processing technology platform to create its geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) product, LOCATE.
The LOCATE data has been released to initial customers alongside other intelligence collected by the Vigilance Mission.
Our geospatial intelligence is now available to initial customers, with additional data volumes being made available as we bring more of our satellite constellation online,” CEO Andy Bowyer said.
“Our technology delivers actionable intelligence from sensor collections, helping solve some of the world’s greatest societal, economic, and environmental challenges.”
The Kleos proprietary technology platform uses signal processing techniques to convert the raw data collected from sensors onboard Kleos’ RF data collection satellite constellation that is designed to collect and downlink RF data accurately and with redundancy, or potentially from other sources, into actionable intelligence.
The technology platform performs signal analysis & processing operations to detect and locate targets, cooperative or not. The geospatial intelligence product output from the technology platform (LOCATE) provides the frequency of the detected transmitter, the reception time, the transmitter coordinates, and the confidence ellipse parameters.
LOCATE provides a valuable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability to governments and commercial entities. It complements other intelligence sources to improve the detection of illegal and/or hidden activity such as piracy, drug, and people smuggling, illegal fishing, pollution, and border challenges.
Recent advancements in Kleos’ ground signal processing technology now allow the Company to deliver the LOCATE geospatial intelligence product with as few as two satellites in a formation, a reduction from the previous minimum of three. The algorithm advancements will also facilitate the ability for Kleos’ processing platform to ingest raw data from other sensors in addition to those owned by Kleos, potentially accelerating the volume of intelligence available to customers with the possibility of lower CAPEX spending.
RF Data Collection Constellation Status Update i
The Vigilance Mission (KSF1) is delivering collected RF data to the Kleos intelligence processing platform with full capacity expected to be achieved over the coming weeks, and the Observer Mission (KSF2) is expected to be delivering data to the platform by the end of March 2023.
As previously reported, there have been technical issues with one of the four Vigilance Mission (KSF1) satellites that have so far prevented it from joining the cluster formation during commissioning as planned. Similarly, one of the four Observer Mission (KSF2) satellites had technical issues which haveprevented it from continuing nominal commissioning to date. A plan provided by the manufacturer to correct the anomalies will be enacted to resolve the issues and have the two satellites re-join their respective cluster siblings.
With both Vigilance (KSF1) & Observer (KSF2) Missions, the focus has been to complete commissioning and to commence data acquisition. The number of satellites in each mission is intended to provide a layer of redundancy alongside technical advantages (the number of satellites collecting simultaneously and in formation affects the potential accuracy of the geospatial output). Due to the Kleos signal processing technology capability advancements detailed above, the number of satellites that are required to be active and in-formation has been further reduced.
The next mission, the Patrol Mission (KSF3), is launching on SpaceX Transporter 6 and is now expected to launch in January 2023.