Thornberry bill would help venture backed startups compete for DoD small business awards

Originally published by SPACENEWS

Thornberry is proposing legislation that would make it easier for startups like Capella Space to continue to get private funding and compete for DoD small business awards.

“Capella Space, a San Francisco-based startup that launched the first U.S. commercial radar imaging satellite in December, submitted a bid earlier this year for a Defense Department Small Business Innovation Research contract.

The company previously worked with the Pentagon’s technology outreach group in Silicon Valley and knew the military was interested in Capella’s technology. The company is building a constellation of 36 radar satellites to scan any spot on the planet once every hour and identify objects like small vehicles in any weather conditions.”