Commercial Innovation Center (CIC)

We Are Better Together

Our Commercial Innovation Center (CIC) is a first-of-its-kind, online development and test platform that provides a secure, virtual, open ecosystem and test sandbox for developers and researchers. We do it by harnessing the combined powers of commercial remote sensing, unclassified open datasets, cloud technologies, in a secure development ecosystem fueled by new, emerging, and seasoned tools, services and data to create solutions that keep our nation safe. The Riverside Research CIC is the place where commercial subject matter experts come together securely to collaborate and create the best commercial solutions to real world scenarios before they're integrated and deployed in the field.

Together, we win

It’s not as much fun to play in the sandbox by yourself, right? We know from experience that it’s the collective work of many people with diverse experiences and backgrounds that create the most effective solutions. By design, the CIC encourages partnerships, increases data accessibility, integrates app development, and facilitates the creation of transition-ready prototypes. Because of our unique position as a nonprofit in the defense space, we can provide the neutral environment where collaborative innovation thrives. As demonstrated on this video, capitalizing on all commercial sensors available improves our progress towards persistent observation.

Access to rich datasets

Data is the one thing that is guaranteed to continuously grow and change. Technology entrepreneurs’ success revolves around access to these data and developing improved AI and machine learning tools creating integrated and advanced applications for businesses in support of (United States Government) USG needs.

Advanced tools and applications

Advanced tools and applications

Technology innovation in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and augmented and virtual reality present significant entrepreneurial opportunities, yet all require geospatial data for development. Early-stage entrepreneurs, academic researchers, and innovators will now have access to the large datasets that are traditionally only available to large, established industry players. Such datasets are often too costly for early-stage entrepreneurs and researchers to acquire, and even if the datasets are made available, they are often not packaged in a manner that allows innovators to work with the data—they are overwhelmingly unwieldy and non-standardized. The CIC data environment seeks to solve that problem, allowing researchers and entrepreneurs new opportunities for experimentation, testing, and training.

The CIC pairs this data with tools and services to streamline development timelines by ensuring flexible licenses are available for your R&D activities within the CIC ecosystem. As new tools and services become available, we negotiate with the vendors for early and shared access amongst our CIC participants to the latest and greatest capabilities from established vendors in the remote sensing market. This visual shows a few or our early integrators, and as new vendors are integrated, we’ll let the community know!

CIC Data Search and Discovery

Your all-access pass

The CIC supports and enables industry, scientific, academic, and governmental R&D activities by facilitating access to commercial remote sensing data. Riverside Research integrates the hardware, software, processes, data, tools, internet accesses, demonstration capabilities, and other IT infrastructure required to execute CIC participant SIBR projects and meet R&D objectives. Our CIC offers:

  • Exposure to diverse and emerging data and data types for more data scientists
  • Increased interaction between content providers and new application developers; enables cloud-hybrid, multi-INT applications
  • Lowered entry barriers by eliminating the need for a user-developed system
  • Integrated orchestration-to-analysis workflow
  • Timely teaming, technology, and tipping
  • Accelerated access and use of commercial remote sensing solutions and innovation
Right where you want it

Right where you want it

Are you looking for a cloud-hosting environment where you can easily access commercial data for development and test—all from one place to safely develop, load, and test capabilities?

Our trusted, unclassified, virtual development platform provides access to R&D-licensed commercial remote sensing phenomenologies (e.g., EO, radar, IR, RF), connects emerging and established vendors with shared application tools and services, and facilitates GEOINT, MASINT, and Multi-INT research and development. The CIC includes:

  • An ecosystem of commercial data providers (CDPs)
  • A network of application developers
  • Common R&D data and COTS/GOTS tools (e.g., loading, discovery)
  • Common testing data (curated, tagged)
  • Robust DevOps environment
  • Hybrid cloud-ready infrastructure
  • Protected intellectual property and data rights
  • Maturing secure data fabric
CIC mission, vision & values

CIC mission, vision & values

Mission: Provide data scientists and algorithm developers with a virtual development and test platform and access to new and diverse commercial remote sensing data to develop algorithms, tools, and services.

Vision: Work in the Nation’s interest to offer proven expertise and experience in commercial remote sensing to solve problems through innovation, agility, and creative thinking.

Values: Encourage partnerships and connect emerging and established users across USG and industry with shared application tools, services, and diverse commercial constellation data.

Participant Agreements: We offer access to a secure, virtual, cloud-based ecosystem to perform R&D using existing and emerging commercial sources to develop and test algorithms, tools, and services accelerating USG objectives.

Commercial Experts: We offer our commercial experience, data scientists, and phenomenology experts to support efforts using the CIC to perform commercial utility assessments, new sensor development, synthetic data V&V, data value/usability studies, and more.

Products and Services: We offer access to CIC-based products and services such as synthetic data generation, data tagging, AI/ML V&V, data compression, data geo-registration, and more.

Work With the Commercial Innovation Center
Press Inquiries About the CIC

Commercial Innovation in the News

  • Commercial Imagery
  • Satellite Launches
  • EO-MSI
  • SAR
  • HSI
  • RF
  • SSA
Commercial Imagery
Inside the Abu Dhabi and Microsoft-backed project to map Africa - African Business

... satellite imagery. A few governments, notably South Africa, have built national spatial data infrastructures. But these remain isolated cases ...

Dec 31,2025
Satellite and model fusion boosts China solar radiation forecasts - Space Daily

Satellite and model fusion boosts China solar radiation forecasts ... Space ground fluid AI framework targets satellite powered 6G edge intelligence

Dec 31,2025
​russia Adds Second Layer of Harbor Defenses After Submarine Hit in Novorossiysk

New satellite imagery indicates russia has added an internal boom barrier in Novorossiysk harbor following Ukraine's underwater drone strike on ...

Dec 31,2025
FCC Seeks a Refreshing Start to the Year for Earth Stations in Motion | Pillsbury - JD Supra

... satellite service beginning in geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) and then in NGSO, has stagnated in recent years. In 2020, the FCC tentatively ...

Dec 31,2025
How the Assad Regime Covered Up Its Crimes: Key Takeaways - The New York Times

The government also sought to obscure evidence of at least one mass grave near the city of Qutayfa, which had been revealed by satellite imagery to ...

Dec 31,2025
A Multi-Modal, Multi-Temporal, Multi-Resolution Benchmark Dataset for Building Height Estimation

& Landrieu, L. Panoptic segmentation of satellite image time series with convolutional temporal attention networks, in Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF ...

Dec 31,2025
Geospatial Forensics: Tracing Environmental Crime Using Satellite Imagery - YouTube

can u list out ur playlists or courses where i can learn how to use satellite imagery for detecting or reporting these crimes?

Dec 31,2025
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Hayley is moving through the Kimberley in Western Australia, after ... - Facebook

Satellite image of ex-Tropical Cyclone Hayley. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Hayley is moving through the Kimberley in Western Australia, after crossing the ...

Dec 31,2025
UK company sends factory with 1,000C furnace into space - BBC

... satellite Tony Jolliffe ... Veronica Viera, the company's payload operations lead, shows us an image that the satellite beamed back from space.

Dec 31,2025
Planet bets on orbital data centers in partnership with Google - SpaceNews

... imaging, with both programs using the same satellite bus. The Suncatcher spacecraft will include modifications such as expanded solar panels ...

Dec 31,2025
The Photos That Shaped Our Understanding of Earth's Shape - Nautilus Magazine

These included the first image of Earth from a weather satellite, which was captured in 1960. Only 30 years later could we truly appreciate how ...

Dec 31,2025
Made in space? Start-up brings factory in orbit one step closer to reality - BBC

A life-size mock up of the space factory satellite sitting on a workbench inside Image source, Tony Jolliffe/BBC News. Image caption,. The mini ...

Dec 31,2025
This cool website lets you compare satellite imagery from a previous year to now. : r/nyc - Reddit

This cool website lets you compare satellite imagery from a previous year to now. NYC History · arcgis.com. Open · https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant ...

Dec 31,2025
Here's the very latest GeoColor satellite imagery (courtesy of NOAA) depicting our incoming ...

Here's the very latest GeoColor satellite imagery (courtesy of NOAA) depicting our incoming storm. Notice the TWO separate multi-thousand miles ...

Dec 31,2025
Synspective Wins Japanese MoD Satellite Constellation Project - Orbital Today

With this satellite constellation, Japan's defence agencies will be able to receive persistent imagery intelligence. Such intelligence will be ...

Dec 31,2025
Satellite Imagery Shows Blizzard Conditions Hitting Midwest | The Australian

Satellite imagery captured storms slamming the Midwest and Northeast United States from Monday, December 29, into Tuesday, December 30, ...

Dec 31,2025
Satellite Imagery Shows Blizzard Conditions Hitting Midwest - Yahoo

Satellite imagery captured storms slamming the Midwest and Northeast United States from Monday, December 29, into Tuesday, December 30, ...

Dec 31,2025
Whoa! A doorbell camera captured snow piling high in Champion, Michigan (just west of ...

A look at the Satellite imagery over the Great lakes where chaser Chicago & Midwest Storm Chasers was last night reporting heavy amount of Lake ...

Dec 31,2025
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 29, 2025

... satellite imagery and other geospatial data as the basis for these reports. References to all sources used are provided in the endnotes of each ...

Dec 31,2025
209 - Satellite Imagery Shows Why The Fog Is Back 🌫️ 🛰️ via @916times Per NWS ... - Facebook

Satellite Imagery Shows Why The Fog Is Back 🌫️ 🛰️ via @916times Per NWS: Fog and low clouds have spread across the northern San Joaquin Valley into.

Dec 31,2025
Satellite Launches
Israel deployed massive truck bombs in Gaza City prior to ceasefire - TRT World

Satellite images show multiple buildings in the same block were ... RelatedTRT World - Israel launches renewed air strikes across Gaza, violating ...

Dec 31,2025
Iran's parliament hails triple satellite launch as major milestone in space program - Press TV

Three Iranian satellites, Zafar-2, Paya and Kowsar-1.5, are seen in released images after being launched aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Russia's ...

Dec 31,2025
YEAR-ENDER - Asia's space ambitions accelerate as China pulls ahead - Anadolu Ajansı

In 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to launch three additional reconnaissance satellites, but no further launches were reported.

Dec 31,2025
Inside the Abu Dhabi and Microsoft-backed project to map Africa - African Business

Space42 provides the satellite imagery, AI powered mapping automation, and data infrastructure. ... Launch of KESSA: a new generation of African ...

Dec 31,2025
China caps record year for orbital launches with Tianhui-7 and Shijian-29 technology test missions

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) revealed the payload to be the Tianhui-7 remote sensing satellite in a post-launch ...

Dec 31,2025
Displacement camps swell with people fleeing Sudan's war-ravaged el-Fasher - Al Jazeera

One camp has been established in the small town of Qarni, northwest of el-Fasher, according to satellite images reviewed by Al Jazeera's Sanad agency.

Dec 31,2025
The Philippines beyond Earth - The GUIDON

To further improve satellite surveillance, PhilSA introduced MULA—an operational satellite designed to capture wider land images ... launch in mid-2026.

Dec 31,2025
Controversial satellites launching in 2026 will reflect light to Earth | New Scientist

Reflect Orbital plans to launch thousands of reflective mirrors to produce "sunlight on demand", but researchers are sceptical about whether the ...

Dec 31,2025
Marine robotics company launches mission to find Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed ... Images. The governments of Australia, Malaysia and China launched a ...

Dec 31,2025
China launches 2 satellites for space technology verification - Anadolu Ajansı

ISTANBUL (AA) - China launched two satellites into space Wednesday from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of ...

Dec 31,2025
The greatest wildlife stories of 2025 revealed | Discover Wildlife

... satellite images taken from space," said WWF on its website. Satellites ... launch at its prey. Lots of animals, including primates, birds and ...

Dec 31,2025
12 NASA Satellite Images That Tell the Story of Earth in 2025 - Visual Capitalist

From devastating wildfires to swirling cloud vortices, NASA's fleet of Earth-observing satellites captured remarkable views of our planet ...

Dec 31,2025
China lofts Tianhui 7 geological survey satellite on Long March 4B - Space Daily

... Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The ... imaging and long-term environmental monitoring. Tianhui 7 was built ...

Dec 31,2025
Inside Rocket Lab's effort to outpace larger space rivals | PBS News

Rocket Lab is getting bigger with a holistic approach to space. It launched NASA's CAPSTONE mission to the moon, built the satellites for the ESCAPADE ...

Dec 31,2025
China's Type 076 carrier seen with electromagnetic launch drones - Interesting Engineering

Satellite imagery taken this week confirms at least four of these trucks parked together at the shipyard. One drone appears clearly mounted on the ...

Dec 31,2025
China launches twin Shijian-29 satellites to test space-target detection tech

Space-target detection technologies can include optical imaging, infrared sensors and radar or laser ranging systems designed to locate and ...

Dec 31,2025
Govt push, public-private partnership drove Indian space sector growth in 2025

Pixxel launched India's first private satellite constellation ... launch subsystems, and imaging platforms. Meanwhile, policy support was ...

Dec 31,2025
Where The Elements Come From - Eurasia Review

Using XRISM — short for X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, an X-ray satellite launched ... launch. Making such a discovery with a satellite we ...

Dec 31,2025
Planet bets on orbital data centers in partnership with Google - SpaceNews

... imaging satellites. Credit: Planet. WASHINGTON — Planet, a company ... Starcloud launched its first satellite on a SpaceX rideshare mission in ...

Dec 31,2025
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 29, 2025

... launched from Ukraine's northern border would have to cross into ... satellite imagery and other geospatial data as the basis for these reports.

Dec 31,2025
EO-MSI
12 NASA Satellite Images That Tell the Story of Earth in 2025 - Visual Capitalist

... Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). This NOAA-20 VIIRS image from February 24, 2025, captures von Kármán vortex streets forming ...

Dec 31,2025
First Cohort Begins Training with NITA as part of Space Academy programs, Delivered by Serco

Future programmes will cover remote sensing, satellite ... Neo Space Group. We are proud to join the Academy's inaugural cohort ...

Dec 31,2025
A SpaceX satellite just lost control and is tumbling through orbit. Here's what another satellite ...

... Satellite Imaging: Rapid Response with WorldView ... SpaceX Starlink Satellite Imaging: Rapid Response with WorldView-3.

Dec 31,2025
Satellite data show forest loss persists in Brazilian Amazon's most deforested reserve

The main cause? Cattle. Triunfo do Xingu lies in the heart of Brazil's cattle country, where cows outnumber people 38 to one. To feed this legion of ...

Dec 31,2025
Looking back at 2025 - in satellite images | World News

Striking nighttime satellite imagery from Vantor's WorldView Legion shows Manhattan's festive glow on 4 December. Striking nighttime satellite ...

Dec 31,2025
Check Out Before and After Satellite Views of Sierra Snowpack Following Storms - GV Wire

... blanketing 56% of the mountain range, according to the National Weather Service. (NASA Worldview). Share. Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Dec 31,2025

Dec 31,2025
Realme Neo 8 Infinite Edition Launch Timeline, Retail Box Leaked - Gadgets 360

Realme Neo 8 Infinite Edition could be launched in China by the smartphone maker in January 2026 with a Samsung M14 AMOLED display, ...

Dec 31,2025
WorldView-2 and the Evolution of the DigitalGlobe Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation ...

The WorldView-3 satellite to be launched in mid-2014 will continue this evolution. Invited Paper. Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, ...

Dec 31,2025
Swiss communities on alert after massive landslide - MSN

... satellite image shows © Maxar Technologies/ASSOCIATED PRESS/picture alliance. Man still missing after Wednesday's collapse. Wednesday's collapse saw ...

Dec 31,2025
SAR
NASA Earth science faces rollback as Mission to Planet Earth era winds down - Space Daily

... EOS era. The symbolism is backed by hardware reality. Terra, launched in ... Landsat Next, originally planned as a three satellite constellation ...

Dec 31,2025
The Philippine Space Agency confirms the launch of the Long March 7A rocket from the ... - Facebook

... satellite constellation. The current launch time occurs 29 minutes ... satellite- missions/p/paz. admin.qsl.net. Maria Carolina Lobo and 12 ...

Dec 31,2025
Starlink Expands Global Satellite Internet Service Amid Technological Advancements

Technological Innovations and Expansion Timeline. In recent years, Starlink has significantly scaled its satellite constellation ... paz-con-un-caos-de- ...

Dec 31,2025
Indra Group becomes a European leader in space: it closes the acquisition of 89.68% of ... - Atalayar

... satellite services. The transaction involves the takeover and ... PAZ. It also plays an essential role in key European infrastructures such ...

Dec 31,2025
Minnesota Starwatch for January - Brainerd Dispatch

Crowning the display is Capella, the jewel of the constellation Auriga, the charioteer. During the night of Jan. 2 to Jan. 3, a full moon steals ...

Dec 31,2025
Terra: End Of Era | Mirage News

Despite its longevity, Terra's mission scientists stopped making inclination adjustments in 2020, allowing the satellite to slowly drift out of its ...

Dec 31,2025
Major Rocket and Spacecraft Accidents Worldwide in 2025 - Русская Испания

The mission was supposed to deliver the Earth observation satellite EOS-09 into orbit, but a malfunction in the third stage led to the loss of the ...

Dec 31,2025
Watch the Moon turn to blood - PressReader

... umbra, the darker, central part where Earth completely blocks direct sunlight. The initial phase, the beginning of the penumbral eclipse, starts ...

Dec 31,2025
EOS Data Analytics(EOSDA) Al-Powered Satellite Analytics for Sustainable Earth Observation

EOSData Analytics(EOSDA). Al-Powered Satellite Analyticsfor SustainableEarth Observation. 1. EOSDA Introduction ·What is EOS ...

Dec 31,2025
SSA

Questions about Commercial Innovation Center (CIC)