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>> Satellites with NAV/marine radar detectors are in orbit. Ya, they are called spy sats. For the better part of a century, very smart people have been funded

>> Satellites with NAV/marine radar detectors are in orbit. Ya, they are called spy sats. For the better part of a century, very smart people have been funded by people with very deep pockets to track ships at sea that don't want to be tracked. If anyone thinks their startup sat company is going to start tracking ships with passive radar, they are entering a very very mature field. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Ocean_Surveillance_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Ocean_Surveillance_Syste... >> The Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) is a series of signals-intelligence satellites that have conducted electronic signals intelligence for the U.S. Navy since the early 1970s.[1] The first series of satellites were codenamed "White Cloud" or "PARCAE", while second- and third-generation satellites have used the codenames "Ranger" and "Intruder". And for anyone saying "well, our sats are going to be in lower orbit" ... that has been done too. If you ever read about satellites powered by nuclear reactors, those were low-orbit radar sats looking for ships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A

fnordpiglet 3y ago
Mature yet commercially opaque I assume? That seems like a good business model tbh, an existing bench of talent (likely under paid) and an established science and technology, that’s of broad interest to many companies, NGOs, and governments.
- dr_orpheus 3y ago
  This is essentially Hawkeye360's business model and to a lesser extent Aurora Insight. Both are satellite based analytics of RF signals. Hawkeye360 specifically lists Maritime Domain Awareness as one of their focuses: https://www.he360.com/solutions/maritime-domain-awareness/ https://www.he360.com/solutions/maritime-domain-awareness/
TrackerFF 3y ago
Yes, the military (intelligence) community have had these capabilities - and more - for quite some time. Some of the same capabilities are being released for "non-military" use, which just means that regulatory agencies etc. can get the same data for non-military ops. But, as someone who's working on exactly that, it is not easy - and there's a lot of red tape to wade through. The data gets filtered by the military, and then you get whatever scraps are left. Scans/passes of areas with too much military activity tend to be off-limits. A big threat is that people could start to fingerprint radar signatures, which in turn isn't ideal if you're a, say, navy or intelligence ship. Not that your adversaries (read: China, Russia, etc.) probably don't have that exact type of data, but it's just standard practice to minimize exposure.

fnordpiglet 3y ago

Mature yet commercially opaque I assume? That seems like a good business model tbh, an existing bench of talent (likely under paid) and an established science and technology, that’s of broad interest to many companies, NGOs, and governments.

dr_orpheus 3y ago
This is essentially Hawkeye360's business model and to a lesser extent Aurora Insight. Both are satellite based analytics of RF signals. Hawkeye360 specifically lists Maritime Domain Awareness as one of their focuses: https://www.he360.com/solutions/maritime-domain-awareness/ https://www.he360.com/solutions/maritime-domain-awareness/

TrackerFF 3y ago

Yes, the military (intelligence) community have had these capabilities - and more - for quite some time. Some of the same capabilities are being released for "non-military" use, which just means that regulatory agencies etc. can get the same data for non-military ops. But, as someone who's working on exactly that, it is not easy - and there's a lot of red tape to wade through. The data gets filtered by the military, and then you get whatever scraps are left. Scans/passes of areas with too much military activity tend to be off-limits. A big threat is that people could start to fingerprint radar signatures, which in turn isn't ideal if you're a, say, navy or intelligence ship. Not that your adversaries (read: China, Russia, etc.) probably don't have that exact type of data, but it's just standard practice to minimize exposure.