Anduril says its first satellite can see adversaries maneuver in orbital night
Anduril Industries has announced the successful demonstration of a new satellite-based sensor designed to track other spacecraft that may be hiding their maneuvers in Earth's shadow.
Funded with Anduril's internal capital, the company's oven-sized satellite launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission in July with a package of tech demo payloads: an edge-compute processor, a power-management system adaptable to different mission types, and a long-wave infrared space sensor capable of detecting other objects in orbit.
Anduril reported on the success of the tech demo mission Tuesday. The company's satellite, named Anduril-216, flies about 590 km (366 mi) above Earth, spending about one-third of each orbit in darkness. Anduril-216's night passes allow its infrared imager to shine.