January 30, 2019
We are pleased to announce SciTec’s selection to advance the Sensor Open Framework Architecture (SOFA) capabilities and technologies in support of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s vision to create an open, extensible, and resilient mission data processing environment. SOFA supports the development and operation of new remote sensing applications for SMC’s Tools, Applications, and Processing Lab (TAPLab), and other stakeholder organizations. This prototype project was completed under the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) under the authority of SMC.
SciTec will prototype and enhance SOFA capabilities to support new remote sensing systems and missions, serve the application development and user communities, and test out new capabilities and processes in support of SMC’s Future Operationally Responsive Ground Evolution (FORGE). The SciTec team will work in partnership with the Air Force to build and deliver the SOFA prototype technical baseline into government custody and ensure critical architecture elements transition to FORGE. “Enabling SOFA as a government-owned technical baseline is central to our entire development effort,” said David Simenc, SciTec’s Tactical Systems Portfolio Lead. “By opening visibility of our development to the government within an Agile software lifecycle and employing DevOps practices, we deliver SOFA with the right capability, reusability, extensibility, and sustainability for the future FORGE program of record ground processing system.”
Over the course of the SOFA effort, the TAPLab will be onboarding new applications and app developers. Supporting the broad application development and user community is a key element of the SOFA effort. To facilitate innovation, the SciTec development team is creating a collaborative, user-friendly SOFA portal with code, software developer’s kits (SDKs), “how to” guides, hardware/software configurations, and other materials. As remote sensing application developers themselves, the SciTec team members appreciate how an effective and efficient portal can make life easier for users. As the TAPLab onboards new remote sensing systems, SciTec will deliver SOFA capabilities to ingest and disseminate sensor data in support of the associated app developers, making sure the Air Force stays at the forefront of new application technology development.
SciTec will execute this effort out of its Boulder, Colorado, and Princeton, New Jersey, software application development factories.
