WINDSOR, CO, July 16, 2026 – Slingshot Aerospace has won a $69.2 million contract to build AI-powered mission rehearsal and training tools for U.S. Space Force Guardians. The 4.5-year initiative, called MENTAT, falls under the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) program and will help Guardians prepare for the speed and complexity of modern space defense missions.
The award is issued as a SBIR Phase III contract. It builds on a previous Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract that supported development of a Digital Space Twin of the space operating environment.
MENTAT takes its name from the human strategists in “Dune,” who are trained to process large amounts of information and support decision-making. At the center of MENTAT is TALOS, Slingshot’s AI-powered training and strategy agent. TALOS models spacecraft behaviors, generates response options, processes complex data, and supports mission rehearsal across space scenarios.
MENTAT is built on Slingshot’s Digital Space Twin, which combines live orbital data, astrodynamics, AI-driven analytics, and mission context into one training environment. The program fits into Slingshot’s Space Operations Intelligence & Autonomy architecture, structured around four stages: Sense, Fuse, Decide, Act. This architecture integrates data, AI threat modeling and simulation, and mission rehearsal into one environment.
Preparing Guardians for Space Defense
The Space Force’s mission requires Guardians to contest and control the space domain, defend space capabilities, and protect the Joint Force from space-enabled threats. MENTAT gives Guardians access to AI-enabled environments where they can rehearse protect-and-defend scenarios, evaluate courses of action, and practice decision-making. TALOS supports training for detecting abnormal behavior, understanding adversary intent, coordinating across mission teams, and maintaining decision advantage in a contested orbital environment.
Moving Training to Guardians’ Home Stations
Through MENTAT, Guardians will access AI-enabled training and mission rehearsal from their home stations and day-to-day work environments, extending readiness activities beyond scheduled exercise windows.
A More Congested and Contested Space Domain
The program addresses demands on space mission teams, including threats from cyberattacks, electronic warfare, and on-orbit activities, as the space domain becomes congested and contested.
“TALOS gives Guardians the ability to train against realistic orbital scenarios and rehearse complex missions with a level of speed, scale, and accessibility that simply hasn’t existed before,” said Tim Solms, CEO of Slingshot Aerospace. “MENTAT represents a major advancement in operational space readiness, putting AI-enabled mission rehearsal directly into the environments where Guardians prepare for and execute their missions.”
Source: Slingshot Aerospace
About Slingshot Aerospace
Slingshot Aerospace is a U.S. space software and data company founded in 2017. The company develops software, data products, analytics, AI tools, training tools and sensor network services for space operations. Its products include Slingshot Portal, Data, Analytics, AI, Learn & Build, Beacon, Laboratory, PNT-SA and hardware sensors. Slingshot combines sensing, data fusion, simulation and mission workflows to support space activity monitoring. Its software supports maneuver planning, anomaly response, mission execution, scenario evaluation and operator coordination. The company serves government and defense users, commercial satellite operators, enterprises, international partners and research organizations. Its markets include space, defense, satellite operations, space domain awareness and space traffic coordination. Slingshot operates or maintains offices in Colorado, TX, Canada, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.