Voyager wins $21 million Air Force contract for AI-driven signals processing

ORLANDO, Fla. — Voyager Technologies secured a $21 million U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract to develop artificial intelligence-enabled signals processing tools.

The work centers on software and computing techniques that can interpret raw intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data collected by sensors. Digital signal processing is a core element of modern ISR networks, allowing forces to sift through large volumes of radar returns, imagery and electronic emissions to identify threats and derive operational insights.

“We’re creating agile surveillance solutions ready for platforms across ground, air, surface, space and cyber,” Matt Magaña, president of space, defense and national security at Voyager, said Dec. 10.

The contract will focus on signals intelligence for U.S. Air Force platforms.

AFRL is investing in technologies that can push more processing to the “edge,” a term for computing performed on board a satellite, aircraft or other deployed system rather than at a distant ground station. Processing data in place can reduce latency — a priority for Pentagon planners preparing for faster-moving conflicts where communications links may be contested or degraded.

Voyager, a Denver-based publicly traded firm, has expanded from its commercial space roots into defense work through a mix of acquisitions and strategic investments. 

It has been building out its AI portfolio through recent acquisitions and strategic investments. Earlier this year, Voyager invested in Latent AI, which develops software for embedding inference algorithms directly on edge devices operating in contested environments. Voyager also acquired ElectroMagnetic Systems Inc., a company with expertise in AI and machine-learning analytics for space-based radar, including automated target recognition.

These capabilities point to Voyager’s ambition to create an architecture in which raw sensor data — from radar, imagery or signals intelligence — can be processed, classified and acted upon without routing everything back to terrestrial ground nodes. These approaches are drawing interest from the Defense Department as it seeks more resilient, distributed architectures for intelligence collection and dissemination.