Image by Air Force Research Laboratory

The U.S. Air Force awarded a $15.5 million contract to HawkEye 360 on Tuesday to provide space-based radio frequency (RF) data, analytics, and research to the help the military demonstrate, test and evaluate its hybrid space Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) architecture.

HawkEye 360 will provide these services, including embedded personnel support, data collection, and tools for data ingestion, directly to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate under an “experimental purpose” contract vehicle, allowing the military to downlink commercial data and analytics directly to government ground stations during testing.

This is HawkEye 360’s s first direct contract vehicle with the Air Force, though it has provided support to AFRL exercises in the past. HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini called the contract a “tremendous opportunity” for his company, as the scope of the deal allows it to participate in U.S. military exercises while introducing new capabilities and improving operational workflows.

“Ultimately, we hope to shape a pathway for further integration of valuable commercial capabilities into the government’s space architecture,” Serafini said in a statement.

HawkEye 360 operates a constellation of satellites designed to detect, characterize, and geolocate radio frequency signals from a range of emitters used for communication, navigation and security. The operator is in the beginning stages of a busy 18-month constellation launch schedule.

“The Department of Defense constantly seeks to identify, evaluate and recommend commercial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities for integration into United States Air Force and United States Space Force workflows,” said AFRL Technical Program Manager Charlene Jacka. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to explore at greater scale and depth, using real-world scenarios, how a leading radio frequency data and analytics provider such as HawkEye 360 can supplement and strengthen our hybrid satellite ISR architecture, and to develop new tactics, techniques and procedures to enable further utility assessments.”