A small but capable autonomous boat is on a 2,500+ mile ocean journey from San Diego to Hawaii.  

The vehicle is a Lightfish autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) designed and built by Seasats. Lightfish are solar powered, autonomous, and designed to carry various payloads, serving as pickup trucks for ocean missions. Science, defense, and commercial customers load them with sensors to collect data and execute missions more affordably and with less risk than crewed vessels. Lightfish are only 10 feet long and 320 lb, but fully open-ocean capable. This combines with their low unit costs to make Lightfish affordable, low-logistics tools for ocean missions.  

This Lightfish is outfitted with a standard sensing and communications package. In addition, it carries a compact electronic warfare (EW) payload manufactured by partner company L3Harris Technologies. The L3Harris EW payload pairs well with the Lightfish’s maneuverability and extremely low radar signature for operations in contested environments.

This Lightfish also leverages a data integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support networked communications for humanitarian coastal disaster response missions. AWS can play a critical role in humanitarian disasters by rapidly standing up shared communications and network tools for first responders.

Learn more at www.seasats.com or reach out to vasb@frnfngf.pbz to learn more about autonomous ocean capabilities!

Every day from 1400-1500 PDT the Lightfish’s Starlink antenna will be turned on to provide a live video feed from topside and underwater cameras. Tune in and keep an eye out for marine life!