NEWSROOM
Read about our latest news + notable industry articles
May 23, 2023
EOI Space is Selected for $1.75M TACFI Award
AFVentures has selected EOI Space as a participant in its Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) program. The program, meant to close gaps in capabilities available to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies—while reducing bureaucratic overhead—provides funding for early-stage companies that demonstrate innovative solutions.
EOI Space will focus on delivering higher-quality data to warfighters, faster, by combining a lower Earth orbit and on-board super compute. The $1.75M award will be funded over two years and is at the top of TACFI’s range of $375,000 to $1.8M per recipient.
“We are honored to work with AFVentures and the Air Force Research Laboratory, through the TACFI program,” said Chris Thein, Co-Founder and CEO at EOI Space, “It will allow us to test our technology alongside users in the field; to get their feedback and further strengthen our capabilities.”
EOI Space is developing the first U.S. commercial constellation to operate in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). Slated to launch in 2024, its Stingray satellites will also be the first to have on-board super compute technology to rapidly process imagery before downlinking it directly to service men and women in theater. This drastically reduces latency and equips warfighters with actionable, near-real-time data.
As part of TACFI, EOI Space will place a special emphasis on understanding and documenting the entire data stream. It will optimize a tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (TCPED) architecture to ensure a user-centered focus throughout the process.
The $1.75M TACFI award is the latest show of interest from the U.S. Government, including two rounds from the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovative Research program (SBIR), also totaling $1.75M.
About EOI Space
EOI Space is an American company on a mission to equip decision makers with the actionable information they need for better outcomes. Launching into Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) in 2024, EOI Space’s 60-satellite Stingray constellation will utilize proprietary electric propulsion and on-board compute to provide assured capacity for 15 cm-resolution, intrahour imaging. EOI Space’s proliferated, resilient constellation will deliver real-time insights for truly persistent global monitoring. Learn more: https://eoi.space/
About AFVentures
AFVentures is all about tapping both U.S. and global tech ecosystems, using military problems to accelerate commercial technologies. AFVentures is transforming the Air and Space Force into an early-stage “investor” that leverages private capital, accelerates commercialization using military missions, and grows the number of companies partnering with us. Learn more: https://afwerx.com/afventures-overview/
About AFWERX
AFWERX, a program office at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation’s top subject-matter experts and harnessing the power of ingenuity of internal talent, by expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. Additional information is available at: https://www.afwerx.com/
About AFRL
Sole organization leading the planning & execution of USAF & USSF science & technology programs. Orchestrates a world-wide government, industry & academia coalition in the discovery, development & delivery of a wide range of revolutionary technology. Provides leading-edge warfighting capabilities keeping air, space and cyberspace forces the world’s best. Employs 10,800 military, civilian, and contractor personnel at 17 research sites executing an annual $4B budget. For more information, visit: https://afresearchlab.com/.