A new US Space Force initiative expands access to AI-enabled mission rehearsal and operational training environments to strengthen Guardian readiness for space defence.
Slingshot Aerospace, a specialist in Space Operations Intelligence and Autonomy (SOIA), has a US$69.2 million award to support of the US Space Force’s ongoing Digital Transformation efforts.
This 4.5-year initiative, part of the Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) programme, will deliver AI-powered mission rehearsal and operational training capabilities to Guardians responsible for protecting and defending US and allied interests in space.
The award, issued as an SBIR Phase III contract, is the largest in Slingshot’s history and builds on a previous Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract, which supported development of a Digital Space Twin of the space operating environment.
Named MENTAT, the programme draws inspiration from the human strategists in Dune who are trained to process vast amounts of information and support complex decision-making. The effort supports the Department of War’s push to accelerate military AI adoption and build an AI-first warfighting force by applying artificial intelligence to one of the Space Force’s most urgent needs: preparing Guardians to operate at the speed, scale and complexity of modern space conflict.
The US Space Force’s mission requires Guardians to contest and control the space domain, defend critical space capabilities and protect the Joint Force from space-enabled threats. MENTAT helps meet that mission by giving Guardians persistent access to high-fidelity, AI-enabled environments where they can rehearse protect-and-defend scenarios, evaluate courses of action and sharpen decision-making under realistic operational conditions.
At the centre of MENTAT is TALOS, Slingshot’s AI-powered operational training and strategy agent. TALOS models realistic spacecraft behaviours, generates strategic response options, processes vast amounts of complex data and supports mission rehearsal across continuously evolving space scenarios.
For Guardians, the outcome is faster, more realistic preparation for detecting abnormal behaviour, understanding adversary intent, coordinating across mission teams and maintaining decision advantage in a contested orbital environment.
Historically, advanced space operations training environments have been concentrated in specialised exercises and dedicated training events.
Through MENTAT, Guardians will be able to access AI-enabled training and mission rehearsal capabilities from their home stations and day-to-day work environments, moving critical readiness activities beyond limited exercise windows and into a more continuous model of preparation.
As the space domain becomes increasingly congested and contested, operators are being asked to process more information and respond to dynamic conditions faster than ever before. Threats ranging from cyberattacks and electronic warfare to increasingly sophisticated on-orbit activities are creating new demands on mission teams responsible for protecting critical space capabilities.
“TALOS gives Guardians the ability to train against realistic orbital scenarios and rehearse complex missions with a level of speed, scale, and accessibility that simply hasn’t existed before,” said Tim Solms, CEO, Slingshot Aerospace. “MENTAT represents a major advancement in operational space readiness, putting AI-enabled mission rehearsal directly into the environments where Guardians prepare for and execute their missions.”
Built on Slingshot’s Digital Space Twin, MENTAT combines live orbital data, astrodynamics, AI-driven analytics and mission context into a unified environment designed to reflect the realities of modern space operations. This allows operators to train against conditions that more closely mirror the challenges they may encounter in the real world.
MENTAT further advances Slingshot’s broader Space Operations Intelligence and Autonomy architecture: Sense → Fuse → Decide → Act. By integrating data, AI threat modeling and simulation and mission rehearsal into a unified operational environment, Slingshot is helping government mission teams move from static awareness toward persistent decision advantage in the space domain.
