Scalable Tracking of pLEO Constellations and Debris
SBIR Opportunity Analysis
The Department of Defense, through OSD, is seeking a direct-to-Phase II SBIR solution for scalable wide-field optical tracking to augment the Space Surveillance Network for proliferated low-Earth orbit constellations and orbital debris. The work calls for a cost-effective system built around commercial off-the-shelf components and software-defined sensors, with onboard processing, extensibility, and rapid iteration, along with documentation of prior modeling, prototyping, integration, and validation experience. Key requirements include tracking 95% of objects larger than 1U at least once per orbit, tracking 95% of unknown objects as small as 1 cm every two weeks, and injecting all detections into the Unified Data Library within 5 minutes of the last field of regard. The opportunity opened on May 6, 2026, and proposals are due June 3, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC through the DoD SBIR/STTR topics site.