In a significant move to enhance training for its personnel, the U.S. Space Force has awarded a $27 million contract to Slingshot Aerospace. This partnership aims to modernize the training of Space Force Guardians by utilizing the company’s cutting-edge TALOS AI technology. TALOS will simulate adversarial actions in orbital warfare scenarios, providing a realistic training environment for military personnel.
Slingshot’s AI is trained on a vast library of real-world orbital observations. This allows it to react dynamically to the actions of trainees, rather than adhering to a pre-defined script. According to Tim Solms, CEO of Slingshot, this capability ensures that TALOS can adapt to evolving scenarios in the space environment. “This allows it to dynamically exploit new algorithms and tools as they become available,” he explained in an email to Breaking Defense.
Developing a Comprehensive Training Environment
The contract, awarded through the Space Force’s Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO), has a duration of 18 months and includes the development of additional software tools. These tools will simulate friendly forces, referred to as “Blue” forces, and act as virtual referees, known as “White” forces. This comprehensive approach aims to provide a robust training experience for Space Force Guardians.
This contract builds on a previous $25 million award from 2022, which funded a 39-month project allowing the Space Training and Readiness Command to test the capabilities of TALOS. Solms stated that the latest award is part of a system-of-systems integration program supporting the Space Force Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI). “We are integrating industry-proven Red/White/Blue cell tools into a single solution for realistic training scenarios,” he added.
TALOS is designed to act as the “thinking adversary” in these training exercises, mimicking the behavior of satellite operations during simulated wargames. This innovative AI was launched by Slingshot in July 2025 with the goal of replicating real-world satellite behaviors and adapting to changes in the orbital environment.
Utilizing Extensive Data for Advanced Training
One of the distinguishing features of TALOS is its ability to learn from an extensive dataset. Slingshot tracks approximately 95% of all payload-sized objects across various orbital regimes, from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to extended Geostationary Orbit (xGEO). This capability enables continuous tracking, day and night, throughout the year.
The data collected represents the largest corpus of commercially available astrometric and photometric data currently accessible. “The dataset is further enhanced by the derived products we generate from those raw observations, which include event detections and patterns of life information,” Solms noted.
This collaboration between Slingshot Aerospace and the Space Force marks a significant step forward in leveraging artificial intelligence for military training. As the space environment continues to evolve, the integration of advanced technologies like TALOS will play a crucial role in preparing Space Force Guardians for future challenges in orbital warfare.
