Tag: radio frequency

Hawkeye 360 claims contract to monitor GPS interference

Slingshot Aerospace has awarded to Hawkeye 360 a radio frequency (RF) data provider contract for monitoring GPS interference. Hawkeye 360 will provide data for Slingshot’s space-based monitoring and detection of RF threats and support its Proliferated Low-Earth Orbit (pLEO) Data Exploitation and Enhanced Processing (DEEP) program for the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC).

The partnership between Hawkeye 360 and Slingshot will make it possible to capture, process and characterize the RF signal environment into timely insights for U.S. government space operators.

Hawkeye 360’s data will support developmental and operational test events, which will ultimately provide information on how to detect early signs of illegal RF activity. The support and capabilities the companies are providing enables the U.S. Space Force to prevent and combat electronic warfare and discover early signs of GPS interference.

January 26, 2023
NGA awards HawkEye 360 contract for RF mapping

Up to five-year contract follows a successful pilot program that demonstrated the value of commercial RF geospatial intelligence

HawkEye 360 has been awarded a contract by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to help the agency discover, characterize and map activities that emit energy in the radio frequency (RF) bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

HawkEye 360 specializes in RF data and analytics from space-based satellites.

HawkEye 360 will provide NGA the means to develop global datasets, enabling users to discover and monitor a broad range of RF activity across large geographic areas.

The $10 million one-year contract includes an option for four more years. It will support users throughout the NGA enterprise, including the combatant commands and other mission partners.

HawkEye 360’s data will support a variety of analytics missions for NGA, including military activity and the trafficking of military, nefarious, non-state and transnational criminal (or illicit) activity. The company’s growing constellation of satellites will provide insight into developing events in a timely manner, and the company will work collaboratively with NGA on an ongoing basis to effectively meet the agency’s mission needs.

“We’re pleased to be moving from the pilot into an NGA long-term operational contract, which showcases the value of unclassified, shareable commercial RF insights,” said HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini.

“This program is an excellent example of agile acquisition rapidly delivering high-impact GEOINT to the warfighter,” said Alex Fox, the company’s executive vice president for business development, sales and marketing.

NGA leveraged a National Reconnaissance Office commercial integration study contract with HawkEye 360 in September 2020 to execute a test and evaluation contract with the company.

NGA then issued a competitive RFP in March 2021 and awarded the contract in July 2021. “We are excited to continue working with NGA to address current mission requirements and expand the RF GEOINT tradecraft to address an even larger set of mission requirements, much like NGA has done with their pioneering use of commercial imagery,” Fox said.

HawkEye 360 operates a constellation of nine RF-monitoring satellites. Twenty-one additional satellites are fully funded and scheduled for launch in 2021 and 2022. Once complete, this baseline constellation of 30 satellites will provide collection revisits as frequently as every 20 minutes.

Following the establishment of the baseline constellation, HawkEye 360 plans to launch a second-generation constellation of 30 additional satellites by 2025 to satisfy projected capacity and operational requirements.

The company’s RF data and analytics produce actionable insights for national, tactical and homeland security operations, maritime domain awareness, environmental protection and a growing number of new defense and commercial applications.

October 27, 2021
GMV supplies a Galileo second-generation RF constellation simulator

Image: ESA

The European Space Agency has selected GMV to supply the radio-frequency constellation simulator (RFCS) for the Galileo second generation (G2G) program.

According to GMV, this is the multinational’s largest contract in Portugal.

From Portugal, GMV will lead a consortium to supply an RFCS covering both the first and second Galileo generations. The Galileo first generation (G1G), running since December 2016, consists of space infrastructure (26 satellites to date) and ground infrastructure.

Under the G2G RFCS contract, GMV teams in Portugal and Spain — partnering with Orolia and Tecobit — will develop an RFCS covering both Galileo generations as well as Galileo Open Service and Public Regulated Service (PRS). The RFCS will simulate the progressive deployment of the G2G with its new signals and will be key to supporting development of G2G infrastructure and testing of experimental user receivers.

The G2G aims to phase in new services, improve existing services, and boost system robustness. It also will enhance security while cutting operating and maintenance costs.

The RFCS will cover user characteristics such as dynamic behavior, signal impairments such as multipath and interference but also solution hybridization (for example, inertial sensors) and signal distortions. It will be designed to guarantee flexibility, configurability, modularity and scalability, as well as segregation of need-to-know information. For this purpose, the RFCS will be built with consumer-off-the-shelf products and follow a software-defined radio approach.

The project is closely linked with other PRS activities within GMV, identified as strategic for the maintenance of GMV’s European leadership position in the Galileo program.

May 5, 2021
Microsatellite constellation geolocates RF signals

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has launched three formation-flying HawkEye 360 Pathfinder 15-kilogram, 20 x 27 x 44-centimeter microsatellites designed to detect and geolocate radio frequency (RF) signals.

Hawkeye 360 Pathfinder satellite trio flies in formation, seeking RF signals from Earth. (Image: UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory)

The target signals emanate from VHF radios, maritime radar systems, automatic identification system (AIS) beacons, very small aperture terminal (VSAT) communication systems and emergency beacons. HawkEye 360 applies advanced RF analytics to the data to assess suspicious vessel activity, survey communication frequency interference and direct search-and-rescue.

Precise formation flying is critical, as the relative position of each satellite must be known to accurately geolocate transmission sources. The satellites carry space-qualified GPS receivers and high-performance attitude control systems to keep them stable in orbit.

Flying in formation, two or all three satellites may receive the same transmission when it originates from their common footprint. The signal’s different times of arrival at each satellite and their different apparent center frequencies (Doppler) will enable onboard comparison of time-of-arrival and frequency-of-arrival measurements to then calculate the transmitter’s position.

The onboard GPS receivers provide precise estimates for the position and velocity of the receivers, information required for multilateration. The satellites further synchronize their clocks using GPS receivers, which also stabilize the phase-locked loops governing the tuning frequency in the RF tuners.

The satellites were built by Deep Space Industries of San Jose, California, and University of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies/Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS/SFL). They were launched in December 2018 into low-Earth orbit.

February 8, 2019