As more governments and commercial companies look to proliferated satellite constellations for increased capacity, some defense experts are concerned that these large fleets could be providing cover for space weapons or spy satellites. A Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency effort aims to use artificial intelligence to shine a light on those potentially nefarious capabilities.
In 2023, DARPA selected Slingshot Aerospace, a California-based space technology firm, to create an AI system that identifies anomalous satellites within these large constellations. The company has unveiled its model, dubbed Agatha, which has demonstrated the ability to detect outlier satellites among operational constellations.
The Chinese government has announced plans to launch two megaconstellations in the coming years comprised of tens of thousands of satellites, a bid to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX. At the same time, Defense Department officials have confirmed Russia is developing a satellite that could carry a nuclear weapon and launched a counterspace weapon designed to follow U.S. spy satellites.
To train Agatha’s algorithm, Slingshot fed more than 60 years of data from simulated megaconstellations created by the firm. The system incorporates a method known as inverse reinforcement learning. Once trained, Slingshot tested Agatha’s abilities using existing commercial constellations, flagging several non-nefarious anomalies.
The DARPA-led project wrapped up earlier this year, and potential government and commercial customers interested in Agatha are in conversations with the company. The tool could be useful to U.S. Space Command and National Space Defense Center monitors activities in space. The amount of traffic in space is only growing, making it impossible for humans to sift through all data and identify potential threats to national security.
