ROMULUS & REMUS: AI-Controlled High-Altitude Balloons & Surface Vessel SDA

Rhea Space Activity, Inc. (RSA) and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) propose ROMULUS & REMUS (R&R): AI-Controlled SDA via High-Altitude Balloons & Uncrewed Surface Vessels as a flexible and sustainable solution for Expeditionary Space Domain Awareness (ExSDA). ROMULUS & REMUS comprises optical and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensors with wide field-of-view (WFOV) optics mounted on autonomous High-Altitude Balloons (HABs) and Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs). Beyond simply establishing additional sensors, ROMULUS & REMUS uses on-board processing to identify and track objects of interest, and is networked together with a centralized, SNC-operated, and AI-driven Command and Control (C2) center that coordinates handoff of tracking across sensors to provide continuous tracking custody of key objects. ROMULUS & REMUS lays the groundwork for a “constellation” of networked sensors that can be rapidly deployed, enabling USSF to fill gaps in object tracking to provide full LEO coverage. These integrated technologies provide SDA observations from both air and sea, establishing resiliency in the existing sensor network providing a comprehensive system for monitoring and safeguarding activities in space. ROMULUS & REMUS will adapt RSA’s optical navigation (OpNav) payload, JAM, for ExSDA and integrate into Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) rapidly deployable HABs and USVs. SNC’s platforms provide limited station keeping capability and onboard batteries, solar panels, and communications equipment to support SDA for periods of over 24 hours, enabling ROMULUS & REMUS to continuously collect and transmit valuable ExSDA data on observed targets in LEO or beyond. ROMULUS & REMUS presents the following advantages:Flight-Proven TRL-9 High Altitude Balloons (>200 Flights): SNC has developed highly capable and rapidly deployable micro-HABs which boast >140 flights at altitude ~80,000ft and long-loitering large HABs with >70 flights.Battle-Hardened (Ukraine) TRL-9 Autonomous USVs: SNC has various USVs capable of hosting SDA cameras hardware that satisfy data transmission requirements. SNC’s WASP USV is TRL-9 and is currently operating autonomously in Ukraine.Dual-Purpose Camera Systems Provide SDA and GPS-Denied Autonomy: RSA’s will modify existing optical systems to operate in EO/IR wavebands to simultaneously conduct two missions: 1) SDA collections for insertion into the UDL, 2) OpNav for platform GPS-Denied autonomy.AI-Enabled C2, TS/SCI Pipeline, and Central Data Lake: SNC’s cutting-edge TRL-9 TRAX software user interface, Cerberus, can be used to autonomously operate ROMULUS & REMUS. Collected SDA data could be transmitted via SNC’s NSA accredited TS/SCI pipeline for data transmission to and from a central data lake, SNC’s Vanir, for secure data transmission.