The U.S. Space Force is expanding its use of commercial satellite data and artificial intelligence-powered analysis tools in an effort to reduce the time between collecting information from orbit and delivering it to military commanders. This comes as the volume of satellite imagery, maritime tracking data, signals, weather information, and open-source material available to military entities continues to grow.
During an annual conference of the Air and Space Forces Association on September 15, General Douglas Schiess, the chief of space operations, said the Space Force is working closely with the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates U.S. spy satellites. His comments came in response to President Donald Trump’s remarks about the United States’ ability to monitor Iran from orbit, including the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site.
From Owning Data to Understanding It
Space industry officials believe the advantage is no longer tied solely to having access to imagery and data, but to the ability to interpret it quickly and link it with other sources. Jesse Kallman, Danti’s chief executive, said space information has become more accessible to government and commercial users than it was five years ago.
According to Kallman, the role of artificial intelligence tools has evolved from searching for and retrieving information in response to a question asked in natural language to handling more complex tasks. These tasks include tracking the development of an event, finding new information, and then preparing a report that can be delivered to an operator or analyst. These tools combine satellite imagery with maritime navigation data, signals, weather information, news reports, and other open sources.
What Is Changing in Practice?
These capabilities could help automate parts of the daily intelligence briefing. Instead of analysts spending hours overnight or arriving early to compare what has changed and prepare the presentation, software can continuously assess new information, build an updated picture of developments, and create a briefing that users can query.
Danti says it supported analysts and operators at the Department of Defense during the conflict with Iran, but it did not disclose details of that work. Kallman also said the company recently received an expansion of a $2.1 million contract with the Space Force, intended to support a larger number of users among U.S. combatant commands.
The Program and Its Limitations
This step comes as part of the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking program, known as TacSRT, which the Space Force established to rapidly provide combatant commands with unclassified commercial sensing and analysis capabilities. In May 2025, the Space Force and the intelligence community formalized their mechanism for cooperation under the program.
According to Danti, the use of artificial intelligence does not mean eliminating the role of analysts. Reports generated by the system are clearly identified as AI-generated, then reviewed and approved by human analysts before distribution. The details of the system’s actual performance in military operations and the scope of its use by different commands remain unavailable in the material, making the practical impact of these tools too broad to measure by the figures currently disclosed.