Aerospace Startup Accepted into Space Force Cohort

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Indianapolis-based Pierce Aerospace says it has been accepted into the 2020 cohort for Hyperspace Challenge, a business accelerator run by the Air Force Research Laboratory and newly-created U.S. Space Force.

The goal of the challenge is to accelerate partnerships between the U.S. government and startups to drive space technology innovation.

Pierce Aerospace has developed technology to remotely identify and track unmanned aircraft systems.

As the use of drones expands in a variety of industries, Pierce says there is a growing need for its dual-use remote identification technology development to serve both government and commercial stakeholders.

The company says the technology can provide the government and participating military agencies with secure, trustworthy autonomous and automated solutions for space.

“Acceptance into this program announces our intent to provide identification management technology and capabilities well beyond low-level airspace,” said Aaron Pierce, chief executive officer of Pierce Aerospace. “We’re on the verge of a new era of hyperconnected systems and identification must be established in order to obtain situational awareness and advance trusted autonomy in all domains – from our backyard to deep space.”

Cohort participants will spend the next two months learning how to do business with the federal government and will work with participating government customers to develop proposals on secure, reliable autonomous solutions for space.

“This year’s cohort will be critical in the effort to determine if autonomous technology is truly up to the task,” said Captain Roger Anderson, deputy program director for U.S. Space Force accelerator program. “The national space community collectively recognizes that the industry could be truly transformed with the growing use of spacecraft capable of automatically handling complex tasks. But complex tasks require complex mechanisms to complete them.”

Since the program was launched in 2018, almost 70% of participating companies have received government contracts worth over a combined $ 7 million in revenue.