OrbitVision: Intelligent, Full Motion Video Streaming and Threat Assessment from Ground-Based Telescopes for Enhanced Space Domain Awareness

Problem: Today, most remote ground-based SDA telescopes do not store or transmit high resolution video. As a result, operators are left with mostly static image snapshots and text-only interpretations. This leads to inability to revisit past assessments, ambiguity in threat assessment during unprecedented complex events, delayed and less reliable decisions, especially under time pressure. These shortcomings are becoming more dangerous as space grows more congested and contested. Sudden, unanticipated movement or deployment by adversary spacecraft—often the first sign of intent—may go undetected without visual confirmation. As the USSF faces escalating threats from adversaries, the need for near real-time full Motion Video (FMV) intelligence is not optional—it is an operational imperative. Solution:TRL11 proposes OrbitVision, an intelligent, modular, low SWaP-C video edge compute platform for ground-based SDA telescopes that enables real-time detection, recording, and transmission of space events, along with threat assessment and event characterization. The low-delay FMV is enabled by OrbitVision’s advanced processor running TRL11’s novel space-aware video compression, VIPOnly, which can intelligently stream video and insight to operators if a threat is detected or if requested even under stringent bandwidth constraints. This ensures that operators receive full-motion, high-fidelity visual data within seconds— enhancing the speed and confidence of scene characterization for effective C2. Furthermore, by being a true platform, operators can scale the utility of OrbitVision by deploying their own containerized applications depending on their mission needs. OrbitVision builds on TRL11’s commercially-developed, space-proven video edge compute platform, SAVER. Objectives and Approach:In the Phase II effort, TRL11 will develop, test, and validate OrbitVision through a field demonstration, advancing the system from TRL-4 to TRL-7. To achieve this, TRL11 will adapt its existing SAVER system into a terrestrial video edge compute platform capable of integrating with ground-based telescopes. The primary hardware objective is to build engineering models of the OrbitVision system and integrate them onto a telescope platform. On the software side, goals include surpassing existing video compression standards, reliably transmitting and distributing video, and effectively detecting, alerting, and characterizing potential threats.  DoD Benefits: SSC’s SDA TAP Lab and the Battlespace Awareness Acquisition Delta (SSC/BCB) need real-time, intelligent visual awareness and characterization of RSOs and on-orbit events.  Expertise and Team Strength:With key team members bringing in decades of wireless video experience and accolades including Technical Oscars® and Emmy® awards, as well as nationally renowned experts in space domain intelligence,, TRL11 is a leader in full motion imagery and is well-positioned to address this challenge in space.