The Australian government has handed out its latest round of Defence Innovation Hub contracts, investing a total of AU$3.07 million in four local companies that will be developing "innovative" solutions for Defence.
Sydney-based Saber Astronautics will walk away with a AU$1.2 million cash injection to continue the development of machine learning technology for autonomous identification and modelling of electronic threats.
According to Defence, the proposed innovation could provide an ability to quantify signal threat characteristics that could be used to help protect its systems.
The space engineering company said the work to detect degraded electronic signals is the second of a potential three-phase project using Saber Astronautics' advanced machine learning capability.
"The application adds significant capabilities to Australian Defence and also has potential spinoffs for commercial space operations by autonomously protecting the quality of satellite data during solar storms," the company explained.
"This phase allows us to work closer to the Air Force in fielding some serious Defence capabilities," added lead Avionics Engineer at Saber Astronautics Andreas Antoniades. "The combination of our machine learning with new, advanced signals processing systems benefits both our country and customers alike."
With the government announcing during the 2018-19 Budget that it would be committing AU$41 million[1] to the creation of the Australian Space Agency, Saber Astronautics said its technology can also be a differentiator for space companies making space-derived products.
"Many new space ventures make space products for consumers, such as satellite photos for mines and farms, or data for Internet of Things," explained Saber Astronautics CEO Dr Jason Held. "Space weather events, such as solar flares, can reduce the quality of these products costing the company money. The ability to detect damage to a