TransAstra Achieves Milestone With First-Ever Space-Based Matched Filter Tracking Using Its Patented Sutter Technology

TransAstra, a leader in space technology and innovation, announces the successful use of its Theia™ proprietary tracking software and technology in space for the first time. This achievement marks the first-ever synthetic tracking or matched filter detection of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) targets from a space-based telescope. It represents a major leap forward for space observation and monitoring capabilities. While others have downloaded imagery from satellites and processed them on the ground, Theia’s near real-time use in space dramatically increases detection capabilities of existing on-orbit assets and opens important new possibilities for the future.

Working with Terran Orbital, TransAstra integrated Theia onto Terran Orbital’s GEOStare 2 cubesat, originally launched to LEO in 2021. The powerful software was uploaded to GEOStare’s onboard computer and installed by the Terran Orbital operations team. Once installed, Theia ran autonomously after image collections, detecting SDA targets in near real-time. The resulting data, including both the raw images and the tracking results, were downlinked to Earth for further analysis and ground testing.

Key Accomplishments: 

• Successful detections of nearly every visible GEO spacecraft in the captured imagery, with minimal false negatives. 
• Detection of objects that were otherwise undetectable using single image exposures or long exposures—only possible through TransAstra’s highly efficient “shift-and-add” track-before-detect software. 
• Multiple detections of numerous objects, including those below the single image noise floor, enhancing tracking performance beyond standard observational limitations. 
• Demonstrated the software’s capability to enhance hardware performance, even on low-power or aging spacecraft systems.

Theia achieved these results despite the degradation of GEOStare 2’s focal plane from space radiation, demonstrating the technology’s utility and adaptability in real-world conditions. While GEOStare 2’s processing power is insufficient for other shift-and-add algorithms, Theia efficiently utilizes available resources. This breakthrough highlights how TransAstra’s patented technology, requiring far less compute power than other approaches, can enable future onboard processing of massive images produced by next-generation optical systems.

TransAstra and Terran Orbital acknowledge the significant contributions of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), which provided the payload for GEOStare 2 and offered valuable support throughout this campaign.

“Our Sutter technology offers unparalleled space situational awareness,” said Joel Sercel, TransAstra’s CEO. “By extending the visual magnitude of GEOStare 2, Theia has demonstrated its ability to deliver sophisticated tracking and detection on affordable, existing satellite platforms. More importantly, this breakthrough paves the way for more accessible and effective space observation solutions. The implications extend far beyond SDA, offering critical advances in planetary defense against asteroid impact and in identifying key asteroid mining targets. This success marks the beginning of a new era in space situational awareness.”

TransAstra’s Sutter technology was invented to discover near-Earth asteroids — critical detection targets for planetary defense and asteroid mining. TransAstra continues to push the boundaries of space technology, leveraging innovation and invention to open new frontiers in sustainable space exploration and development.