Slingshot’s new TALOS AI agent tool. Photo: Slingshot

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Slingshot Aerospace a $27 million contract to integrate its Talos AI agent into Space Force scenario training. 

Slingshot Aerospace debuted Talos in July last year. Its name Talos stands for Talos Thinking Agent for Logical Operations and Strategy and it is designed to imitate satellite behavior for training and simulation, to replicate tactics like space warfare maneuvers and dogfighting strategies. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) recently tested Talos for training purposes and to plan for deeper AI integration into future exercises.

This is an 18-month contract awarded through a Commercial Solutions Opening. It builds on earlier SpaceWERX and Space Force investments  in 2022 under a $25 million STRATFI contract award. Under the contract, Slingshot will advance the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) program toward integrating existing training capabilities with AI-native technology to represent the threat landscape. 

“This award marks a turning point in how the Space Force prepares for conflict in orbit,” Tim Solms, Slingshot Aerospace CEO, said. “Talos allows the Space Force Guardians the ability to train against adaptive, AI-driven threats that behave like real adversaries — not pre-programmed scenarios. This is the dawn of AI-native space training, where human and machine intelligence work together to give mission leaders a decisive operational edge.”