Ursa, University of Illinois and Palantir win NGA contracts

ST. LOUIS — The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced awards May 21 to Palantir Technologies, the University of Illinois and Ursa Space Systems at the GEOINT Symposium 2025.

Through a $13.8 million Luno A task order, Ursa will provide unclassified commercial geospatial intelligence analytics of petroleum-based production and storage facilities, said NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth.

Monitoring global petroleum production and storage helps NGA provide government leaders and decision-makers with “a global and persistent perspective on some of these key economic flows,” said NGA Commercial Operations Director Devin Brande. “This is an ongoing project. We’re continuing to grow it.”

The University of Illinois, part of the collaborative Taylor Geospatial Institute, was awarded $25 million NGA contract for high-performance computing to support “advanced AI and machine learning, logistics for data production on a global scale, and integrated tipping and cueing strategies,” Whitworth said.

Palantir won a $28 million contract to expand access to Maven Smart System for NGA analysts writ large and to provide capabilities that assist with analytic modernization efforts,” Whitworth said. Maven Smart System is designed to speed up detection, identification and characterization of features and objects in drone and satellite imagery.

Maven Smart System is an artificial-intelligence platform designed to enhance the speed and accuracy of military decision-making.

Correction: A previous version of this article said all three contracts were awarded under the Luno A program. Only Ursa’s contract was part of Luno A.