SpaceWERX Selects Tech7 for PLATE Space Applications Testbed SBIR

SpaceWERX has facilitated a Direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to The Tech7 Company to prototype the Proliferated LEO Agile Testbed Environment, or PLATE. The planned environment will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) and operate at the unclassified level, supporting the development, testing, and demonstration of applications for potential use in one or more Space Development Agency (SDA) tranches. Work is scheduled to begin in October 2026. The award amount and contract number have not been disclosed, so vendors should not infer a contract ceiling, funding profile, or competition timeline from the announcement.

The effort responds to the operational demands associated with proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) systems. The source describes a future in which hundreds of distributed sensors produce continuous, low-latency data streams that must be processed and acted on in near real time. It characterizes existing “stove-piped, mission-specific data pipelines” as poorly suited to that volume and pace. PLATE is intended to provide an environment to mature and evaluate applications against this challenge, with the stated objective of supporting the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The initial testbed is unclassified; the announcement describes multi-security-level capability as a future direction, not a feature already delivered.

For government buyers and industry, the award establishes a prototype and test-and-evaluation pathway—not an operational deployment or a commitment to buy applications tested there. Tech7 President and CEO Juan Echeverry said the environment would let the Space Force “safely try new ideas” and evaluate technology from large primes, small businesses, and non-traditional innovators. That description signals an intended role for a broad supplier base, but the announcement provides no open solicitation, participation process, eligibility criteria, or schedule for third-party testing. Companies should therefore treat PLATE as a capability-development signal and monitor official opportunities rather than assuming access or a subcontracting route.

Tech7 says its approach builds on existing on-site support to the Space Systems Command (SSC) Missile Warning enterprise, including the OPIR Tools, Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab and the SSC OPIR Modeling and Simulation Analysis Center (OMAC). The company’s principal investigator and chief engineer, Paul Zetocha, described PLATE as modular, zero-trust, and designed for continuous scaling, with a deliberate path toward multi-level security and coalition operations. These are stated design objectives, not confirmation that the prototype has achieved those capabilities. A future SBIR Phase III is described as a possible transition path to an objective multi-security-level system; it is neither an announced Phase III award nor a guarantee of transition or adoption.

• Awarding pathway: SpaceWERX facilitated a Direct-to-Phase-II SBIR award to The Tech7 Company for PLATE prototyping.
• Schedule: Work is scheduled to begin in October 2026; no completion date was provided.
• Prototype scope: An AWS-based, unclassified environment to mature, test, and demonstrate applications for potential use in one or more SDA tranches.
• Mission context: PLATE is intended to support the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and address rapid processing and use of data from proliferated LEO sensors.
• Security roadmap: Multi-security-level capability and coalition operations are described as future design goals, not as completed prototype features.
• Potential users and suppliers: Tech7 says the environment is intended to evaluate technologies from large primes, small businesses, and non-traditional innovators; no participation mechanism is stated.
• Transition caveat: A future SBIR Phase III is a potential path, but the announcement does not promise a Phase III award, operational adoption, or follow-on funding.
• Disclosure gaps: The award value and contract number were not disclosed, limiting assessment of funding scale and contract structure.
• Industry action: Space-app developers and cloud test-environment providers can track official SDA and SpaceWERX notices and assess technical alignment, without treating this announcement as an open solicitation.