The Washington, DC-based start-up company Rhea Space Activity (RSA) worked with Metawave to develop the SPEKTRA concept as a parallel application for its well-established commercial automotive uses. RSA identified SPEKTRA’s two-dimensional (2D) solid-state beamsteering and all-weather operational capabilities as uniquely suited to solve several problems related to providing eVTOL aircraft with reliable situational awareness.
With SPEKTRA nearing commercial operation, RSA suggested AGILITY PRIME as a good fit for further development of the radar system’s capabilities.
Shawn Usman, astrophysicist and Founder of RSA, said that adaptation of driverless car technologies could be used for a variety of national security applications.
“Rapid technological innovation in the U.S. driverless car sector is also demonstrating remarkable compatibility with the high-performance requirements of many Department of Defense missions,” Usman said. “SPEKTRA in particular is versatile enough to support unmanned VTOL operations as well as fixed-wing flight. By guiding small yet highly innovative companies like Metawave through the complexities of programs such as AFWERX, RSA plays a crucial cooperative role in developing core technologies, like SPEKTRA, to push the boundaries of current consumer-facing innovations, while helping to solve critical national security issues.”
Following the completion of Phase One, Metawave will apply for a Phase Two contract to bring operational radar hardware to USAF personnel. The Phase Two effort will include a series of field tests of the proposed design array under a variety of varied situations and environments.