Q: What is it that HawkEye 360 does?
A: HawkEye 360 is the first commercial provider of space-based radio frequency (RF) data analytics. So it’s about radio frequency geospatial intelligence. We provide electronic intelligence and passing collection of radio frequency signals, detecting anything above one watt.
Q: What are the use cases?
A: We have use cases in both maritime and terrestrial areas. In the maritime sector, we’ve been able to detect illegal fishing activity in areas such as the Galapagos Exclusive Economic Zone. We are able to use our radio frequency data, layering with other data (such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery) to detect the presence of ships that shouldn’t be where they are. Our data is also uploaded to allow us to see what ships are going where. We can also see conflict, by detecting dark ships in areas that automatic identification system (AIS) data cannot.
In the terrestrial sector, we have detected military activity on the Indo-Chinese border.
Q: So you’re gathering new data that others aren’t, but importantly you’re fusing it with other sensor data in order to gain an overall operational picture?
A: Right, so RF data is able to indicate things on its own, such as how things move in time and trends in certain regions. But it is extremely valuable when you layer it with other data, such as AIS and SAR imagery, as this allows you to see what the map looks like behind our data.
Q: Where do you see this technology going in the next 3 years?
A: So far, we have launched three clusters of satellites, we have two more clusters launching next year and we are fully funded through ten clusters. So we are going to be filling in gaps in the RF spectrum that we currently are not collecting in yet, so that we can gather more types of RF intelligence. We will also be looking to further revisit rates.