SCOUT Awarded SBIR Grant from NASA for Development of Autonomous Relative Navigation Systems for Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, May 31, 2022 (SCOUT PR) — SCOUT Inc., a space tech company developing autonomous proximity operations and spacecraft awareness service, today announced its selection for a NASA SBIR award to make relative navigation more resilient and enable more autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking. This effort is expected to yield advancements in autonomy and resilience across a wide range of NASA applications which often require exhaustive pre-planning and manual operations of multi-satellite systems.

SCOUT’s fault-tolerant and robust 6-degree-of-freedom finite-time controllers integrate multiple control system inputs and data sources, such as SCOUT-Vision remote sensing systems, to facilitate faster, more accurate tracking performance and more efficient control energy consumption during proximity operations than conventional controller modes in the presence of real-world challenges such as actuator faults, parametric uncertainty, and unknown external disturbances.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17, 2022 (SCOUT PR) — SCOUT Inc., a space tech startup developing next-generation space traffic management and autonomous proximity operations services, announced today they have successfully closed a bridge round which will enable significant growth of their capabilities in 2022. Decisive Point, a venture capital firm that invests in dual-use technology startups, led the round with follow-on participation from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation and Geospatial Alpha.

This funding round strategically positions SCOUT to better capitalize on opportunities in early 2022 and hit key milestones, including SCOUT-Vision production readiness and the launch of SCOUT’s first OVER-Sat mission in 2023. SCOUT is looking forward to connecting with more investors on the next fundraising Seed round, which opened earlier this month.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., January 26, 2022 (SCOUT PR) — SCOUT Inc. today announced its Autonomy Software offerings: computer vision and guidance software to make navigation safer and less complex for space operators. These offerings include software-hardware integration providing: next-generation AI/ML-based autonomy, hybrid data fusion from various sensors, and closed-loop optical navigation control algorithms. 

“Our first SCOUT-Vision system was launched into orbit in June 2021 and the software packages we’re offering today are due in part to the success of that mission,” said Eric Ingram, Co-founder and CEO of SCOUT. “SCOUT is working towards a future where spacecraft operations can be autonomous, and space traffic is continuously monitored from orbit. What we’re announcing today gets us a few steps further along that journey.” 

SAN FRANCISCO (Orbit Fab PR) — Orbit Fab, the Gas Stations in Space™ company, and SCOUT, an in-space inspection firm, announced the world’s first dedicated commercial in-space situational awareness mission. SCOUT will launch a SCOUT-Vision payload on Orbit Fab’s Tanker-001 Tenzing fuel depot, scheduled to ride to orbit aboard a Spaceflight Inc. Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) on an upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 mission later this year.

The hosted payload is a demonstration mission of SCOUT’s in-orbit inspection capability and the collaboration provides tangible evidence of Orbit Fab and SCOUT’s alignment and shared commitment to the satellite servicing ecosystem.