Aided HyperTRACE: AI Aided Low-Latency Solution for Hypersonic Target Recognition and Track in LEO OPIR

Emerging hypersonic technologies combine the speed of ballistic missiles with the maneuverability of cruise missiles. This combination of capabilities means there is limited time to both detect and react. Additionally, hypersonic technologies are rapidly becoming a critical element of the defense paradigm and are compounded by a congruent emergence of smart autonomy. In parallel, hypersonics and artificial intelligence will allow for sophisticated high speed maneuverable vehicles and missiles. As the United States maintains strategic advantages on these technologies, it is imperative that the U.S. also maintain superior counter technologies, including the ability to detect, track, classify and extrapolate hypersonic targets of interest for early warning systems. EpiSci with support from Raytheon, will mature our tactical and modular AI/ML algorithms developed in Phase I into a fully integrated cohesive system that brings state-of-the-art capability to the Space Development Agency’s tracking layer. The developed technology will be designed to be robust to a large number of object detections/false alarms, persistent false alarms, and detection dropouts. Additionally, the careful collaboration across a proliferated set of OPIR sensors will help improve critical operational knowledge and create three-dimensional tracks. Finally, the entire system will be evaluated with respect to accuracy and computational complexity in a high-fidelity simulation with OPIR satellites and relevant target kinematics.