Anduril
The partnership is just one arm of Anduril’s drive into space. Last week, the company landed a $25.3 million contract with the US Space Force, a branch of the military established four years ago to protect US interests in space.
Anduril has been contracted to expand the use of its artificial intelligence-powered Lattice software on Space Force’s Space Surveillance Network (SSN).
It would strengthen the network’s communications by providing “warfighters with real-time data exploitation, autonomous coordination of satellites, and resilient communication capabilities,” it said in a press release.
“Space is a contested warfighting domain and we recognize the importance of equipping spacecraft with advanced autonomy and cutting-edge payloads,” Gokul Subramanian, Anduril’s SVP of Space and Engineering, said in the announcement.
In the last year, Anduril has also secured key contracts to provide the US Air Force and both Australia’s Navy and Air Force with autonomous systems.
The company has pitched itself as the answer to the US military’s production and procurement woes, saying that future success in war will depend on the ability to rapidly manufacture and produce advanced weaponry at scale.
In August, after raising $1.5 billion in a series F funding round, the startup announced it would build a five million-square-foot factory that would “hyperscale” defense production and “rebuild the arsenal of democracy.”