Tim Solms is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Slingshot Aerospace, a company at the forefront of revolutionizing space operations. By integrating cutting-edge AI, advanced space traffic coordination, and high-fidelity modeling and simulation, Slingshot delivers mission-critical insights that enhance spaceflight safety and operational efficiency for satellite operators, defense agencies, and space organizations worldwide.
A veteran of the United States Army, Solms served for 18 years before transitioning to executive leadership, where he has spent more than two decades optimizing and scaling businesses for growth. He has led transformational initiatives at global enterprises, including Microsoft, where he served as General Manager of the Department of Defense business, VMware, overseeing DoD and NATO operations, and Dell, leading Defense sector strategy. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager at Dun & Bradstreet, overseeing the Public Sector business.
Thank you for taking the time to dscuss Slingshot Aerospace with our readers. Mr. Solms, what brought you to Slingshot Aerospace and what inspires you about the company’s mission? Why is the firm’s technology so critical for application today and tomorrow?
Tim Solms
After serving as a U.S. Army officer and Apache attack helicopter pilot for nearly 19 years, I knew that I always wanted to continue serving our country, no matter where my career took me.|
In February of 2024, I found an opportunity to do so by leading Slingshot Aerospace’s incredible team of world-renowned astrodynamicists, data analysts and public policy experts. Slingshot provides government and commercial partners worldwide with AI-powered solutions for satellite tracking, space traffic coordination, and space modeling and simulation.
Slingshot’s mission is critical to national defense. Space is increasingly congested and contested, with 86 countries operating MORE THAN 10,000 active satellites on-orbit today and 100,000 satellites are expected to be in operation by 2030. The federal government recognizes access to, and the use of, space as of vital, national interest. The incorporation of space domain awareness (SDA) is essential for all working within the complex landscape that is our indsutry.
Slingshot transforms SDA with AI-powered solutions that help the federal government and commercial industry navigate the increasingly congested space environment. I’m proud to lead a team of dedicated and brilliant individuals who work tirelessly to solve some of our nation’s most pressing space challenges.
What sets Slingshot apart from other companies specializing in satellite
data analytics?
Tim Solms
Slingshot has created the most comprehensive and accurate common operating picture of the space domain, generating essential data to enable safe space operations.
More than 90% of active Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft today use Slingshot’s tools to improve spaceflight safety. The Slingshot Global Sensor Network is the world’s only day/night LEO-to-xGEO optical sensor network and operates more than 150 optical sensors across 20+ global sites and generating over 1 million daily LEO observations.
Slingshot’s daytime sensors allow for 5x the number of observation opportunities against LEO objects when compared to nighttime-only systems. These observations provide continuous monitoring of the space domain to support our government customers, including DARPA, NOAA and the U.S. Space Force (USSF).
Not only do we have the most comprehensive and accurate space data, but we can derive meaningful insights from that data. Slingshot’s Agatha AI platform allows us to identify anomalies and other concerns in space first.
For example, Slingshot detected a TJS-17 Chinese satellite releasing a secondary object in GEO in April. In August of 2024, Slingshot was the first to detect over 50 pieces of orbital debris associated with China’s launch of 18 G60 satellites. Agatha has also identified anomalies in Chinese, Russian and other satellites, including an outlier among one of China’s Yaogan ‘triplet’ military reconnaissance satellite groups.
| We’re constantly advancing our technology to address the ever-evolving space threat landscape, and we look forward to tackling the next challenge.
How do you think AI will continue to shape the space industry?
Tim Solms
The exponential increase in satellites has led to a parallel increase in the volume of available space data. There is simply too much information for people to effectively manage by themselves, making Artificial Intelligence (AI) the only viable solution to make sense of all that information.
AI isn’t new technology within the world of space. NASA previously stated it’s been “safely using AI for decades to plan and schedule missions for planetary rovers, analyze satellite datasets, diagnose and detect anomalies, and more.” Last May, the USSF published its Data and AI Strategic Plan focused on enabling secure discovery, access, integration and use of intelligence data at the speed of mission requirements.
Slingshot provides space operators with ready-to-deploy AI solutions that solve real-world operational challenges—from anomalous spacecraft identification to mission characterization and AI-driven counterspace training.
AI is poised to transform space exploration, in-space servicing, command-and-control decision-making, and more resilient communications. With AI-powered tools, space agencies are bringing new levels of autonomy for everything from spacecraft and crew health monitoring to satellite navigation, collision avoidance and situational awareness. Given the volume of space data and our nation’s dependence on space-based services, AI insights are essential to ensure a stable and sustainable space domain for future generations.
You mentioned Agatha... what is Agatha AI and how is that technology being used in defense and intelligence missions?
Tim Solms
In June of 2024, Slingshot Aerospace launched Agatha, a revolutionary AI system that pinpoints spacecraft abnormalities for essential space domain awareness and insights into potential bad actors.
Agatha is a first-of-its-kind AI application that Slingshot developed in partnership with DARPA to simultaneously evaluate data from thousands of satellites and identify suspicious outliers. The minute differences in satellite behavior occur, Agatha flags that occurrence to indicate a suspicious mission, unique hardware or weapons, or other abnormal operation have been noted.
Agatha incorporates data analysis with techniques such as inverse reinforcement learning, which uses AI to evaluate and predict an object’s behavior. By indicating differences, it helps predict intentions. Agatha analyzes data from the Slingshot Platform’s vast data lake, aggregating information from Slingshot’s Global Sensor Network, Slingshot Seradata, and other public and proprietary sources.
Several satellite constellations of over 10,000 spacecraft are slated for deployment in the coming years, making it essential for satellite operators to have an accurate, real-time, comprehensive picture of the space domain to ensure safe, sustainable, and secure space operations. Tools like Agatha are making these critical needs a reality.
Slingshot was recently awarded a contract for USSF’s PNT-Sentinel program. Can you tell me about the contract and what’s next?
Tim Solms
In January of 2025, the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Slingshot $1.9 million to further develop our existing GPS jamming and spoofing detection, as well as more precisely geolocate the sources and predict interference patterns.
SSC previously awarded Slingshot a Phase 1 contract to develop its initial GPS jamming detection capability called DEEP (Data Exploitation and Enhanced Processing) in October of 2021.
The USSF currently uses the technology Slingshot developed under the DEEP contract to detect GPS jamming and ground-based interference sources related to ongoing conflicts, potential future conflict zones, and counterterrorism efforts.
Slingshot will leverage Agatha to further explore, develop, and integrate cutting-edge AI into PNT-SENTINEL. By layering AI into Slingshot’s current technology, it is better able to detect and flag jamming and spoofing threats, as well as differentiate between unintentional interference and malicious acts.
Why is there a need for GPS jamming and spoofing detection? What is at stake is GPS jamming and spoofing are not addressed?
Tim Solms
Intentional GPS interference poses a serious safety threat to citizens nationwide and across the globe. Jamming and spoofing GPS signals can prevent emergency services from locating incidents and dispatching first responders, disrupt commercial airline operations and impact passenger vehicle navigation.
Adversaries also use these techniques across conflict zones to reduce the effectiveness of combatant technology, disrupting targeting systems for military drones, missiles and aircraft—putting troops’ lives at risk.
On a global scale, these threats pose a critical risk to any navigation systems, communications networks, and power grids that depend on accurate GPS data. Today’s global community relies more than ever on the signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which are satellite constellations that provide global Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services. By interfering with those signals, bad actors can hamper satellite operations over a certain region.|
PNT-SENTINEL is a shining example of cross-sector collaboration ensuring safe and secure GPS services. To fully eradicate GPS threats, continued coordination between the public and private sectors and between the U.S. and our allies will be essential.
What are some current issues or trends you’re seeing now within the space industry that aren’t being discussed enough?
Tim Solms
Space is underfunded, underprioritized and highly vulnerable. Space-based threats, such as anti-satellite weapons, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, orbital debris and orbital congestion, evolve constantly. Given the magnitude of these threats, and their potential global implications, protecting space requires a collective effort from all spacefaring nations. It can’t be a single nation’s responsibility. A cohesive, unified approach with decisive actions can secure the space domain. This includes:
Improving public and political communications to reshape the narrative of space – confronting misinformation and clearly communicating the critical role of space security to life on Earth.
Creating a Space Security Accord to formally recognize space assets, such as satellites, ground stations, and launch sites as critical national security infrastructure, set protocols and define shared responsibilities among allied nations.
Accelerating technologies to boost space security, including a global space traffic management system, anti-jamming and anti-spoofing systems, robust debris mitigation and resilient satellite systems capable of operating in contested environments.
Governments must be fully committed to funding space security, which will in turn encourage private sector innovation by highlighting the urgency of advancing space technologies.
What are some of your predictions for space/federal technology in 2025 and beyond?
Tim Solms
Rapid space sector growth will continue. We’ll see a rise of autonomous operations, particularly through the emergence of self-aware satellites. These advanced satellites will go beyond simply knowing their position and function—they’ll actively monitor surrounding activity and enable a new era of autonomous space technology driven by dependable, shared data.
Space will continue to play a vital role in our nation’s defenses and global infrastructure. With international collaboration to develop advanced space technology, establish clear policies, and allocate the necessary resources, we can ensure the safety and security of space for generations to come.
Slingshot is at the forefront of this mission, delivering innovative, AI-powered technologies to solve the space sector’s most complex challenges amid increasingly crowded and contested space environments.
www.slingshot.space