DARPA Pushes Autonomous Surveillance Forward With New BAE Systems Contract

Keeping continuous watch over objects on Earth from orbit has long been more aspiration than reality. Now, a new research contract suggests the U.S. defense community wants to turn that idea into an automated, scalable system that relies less on human operators and more on machine decision-making.

BAE Systems’ research division, FAST Labs, has been selected to continue work on DARPA’s Oversight initiative, securing $16 million to move the project into its second development phase. The effort centers on building software that allows satellite constellations to independently maintain awareness of large numbers of ground-based assets over time — a concept known internally as persistent custody.

The funding follows an earlier experimental stage in which the company tested its approach entirely in virtual environments. During that initial phase, the system was embedded into simulation frameworks designed to mimic how satellites and sensors behave under real operational conditions. Those trials were used to validate whether an automated architecture could coordinate observation tasks without constant human direction.

The next phase shifts focus away from proof-of-concept demonstrations and toward scale and realism. Engineers will now stress-test the system against denser satellite networks, more dynamic scenarios, and increasingly detailed digital models. The aim is to see how the technology behaves when complexity rises and variables multiply — conditions that typically expose the limits of automation.

Unlike the first stage, which remained confined to modeling tools, Phase 2 is expected to bridge the gap between laboratory experimentation and operational use. The autonomous software will be prepared for deployment not only within ground-based systems but also directly aboard satellites operating at the tactical edge, where processing power, connectivity, and response time are constrained.

DARPA’s broader objective with Oversight is to explore whether future space architectures can manage surveillance tasks continuously without overwhelming human analysts. By distributing decision-making across autonomous platforms, the agency hopes to create systems that are more resilient, adaptive, and capable of handling information volumes that exceed traditional command-and-control models.

For BAE Systems, the contract represents a step deeper into autonomy-driven space operations — an area increasingly viewed as essential as satellite constellations grow larger and missions demand faster, more flexible responses.