The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is preparing to kick off a key end-to-end simulation phase for its Blackjack program next spring, aiming to retire risk on the path to demonstrating the utility of a proliferated low-earth orbit satellite constellation equipped with an autonomous data processing capability. The program has awarded contracts to three bus and nine payload providers in the last year and has selected three companies to develop autonomous, space-based data processors, dubbed as Pit Boss systems. Program...