WASHINGTON — Cognitive Space, a startup based in Houston, Texas, announced Dec. 1 that retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Aaron Prupas has joined the company as a strategic advisor.
Prupas was most recently director for defense intelligence at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
Guy de Carufel, founder and CEO of Cognitive Space, said Prupas will help guide the company as it seeks to expand its defense and intelligence business.
Cognitive Space has won several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts for its artificial intelligence-driven software used to manage and schedule satellite operations on a cloud platform. The company has been working with the Air Force Research Laboratory to demonstrate how this software can help automate the command and control of remote-sensing satellites. It won a $1.2 million SBIR agreement to develop software to manage a hybrid architecture of government and commercial remote-sensing satellites.
Prupas will “provide guidance and advice to the Cognitive Space team with respect to continuing to grow its partnership with the intelligence community and Department of Defense,” de Carufel said.
Cognitive Space has a mix of commercial and government customers and now sees a major opportunity to grow in defense and intelligence, de Carufel told SpaceNews.
“The war in Ukraine has made it clear that space is a major component that’s vital for national security, particularly the use of commercial space. And we see commercial space playing a major role,” he said.
“The defense and intelligence community recognizes that they need to make better use of space in all of its capacity, including leveraging existing dedicated assets, leveraging commercial providers and partners so that they can get the information they need quickly.”
