Track at Big Distances with Track-Before-Detect (TBD2) Proposers Day Announcement DARPA-SN-26-09

PROPOSERS DAY: DARPA will host a Proposers Day in support of DARPA-PS-26-01, Track at Big Distances with Track-Before-Detect (TBD2) program on November 4, 2025 at the Executive Conference Center (ECC), located at 4075 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203 from 9:30am to 5:00pm ET. The purpose of this conference is to provide information on the TBD2 program; promote additional discussion on this topic; address questions from potential proposers; and provide a forum for potential proposers to present their capabilities for teaming opportunities. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION: The objective of the TBD2 program is to enable continuous space-based detection and tracking of objects in cislunar space on tactical timelines. To accomplish this, TBD2 seeks to advance state of the art for signal processing algorithms so that when combined with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or quasi-COTS optical sensors and/or focal plane arrays (FPAs), they can a) detect and track faint objects at gigameter (Gm) distances b) operate using available onboard processing capabilities, and c) do so on relevant timelines (within hours). TBD2 is a 15-month single-phase effort with two tasks. Task 1 is to reduce the computational needs (and associated power consumption) of signal processing algorithms needed to detect faint moving objects at distances of millions of km, and Task 2 is to develop a payload design that optimizes quasi-COTS sensors, onboard processors, and algorithms to achieve overall TBD2 goals.