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.

Capella Space Active RF
Capella Space Active RF
the CIC encourages partnerships, increases data accessibility, integrates app development, and facilitates the creation of transition-ready prototypes
the CIC encourages partnerships, increases data accessibility, integrates app development, and facilitates the creation of transition-ready prototypes

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
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
Satellite imagery shows new construction and upgrades at several nuclear-related ... - Facebook

Satellite imagery shows new construction and upgrades at several nuclear-related sites in China's Sichuan province, including facilities analysts ...

Feb 16,2026
Analysis: Taiwan's Formosat-8 signals a shift beyond silicon to space power - digitimes

In the final days before the Lunar New Year, a series of high-resolution satellite images began circulating on Taiwanese social media.

Feb 16,2026
Satellite imagery of secretive nuclear facilities reveals Beijing's efforts to expand its arsenal ...

... satellite images. "Commercial satellite imagery from May 7 provided the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the test site was already ...

Feb 16,2026
Report: Pentagon weighs cutting ties with Anthropic over military AI limits - Ynet News

... intelligence gathering and battlefield operations. ... While Claude has previously been used for satellite imagery analysis and other intelligence ...

Feb 16,2026
US Pushes Fisheries Tech At APEC Amid China Rivalry - Maritime News

The Trump administration is promoting artificial intelligence ... Perry said U.S. companies were developing technologies including satellite vessel ...

Feb 16,2026
Endgame for Barker's wastewater pond issues becomes clear - Newsroom

Satellite image: Google Earth. Business news in association with. Barker's has a new plan to get itself out of a wastewater pickle. The French-owned ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite Map - Earth View - App Store - Apple

Discover the world in a whole new way with Satellite Map - Earth View! View high-definition 3D satellite imagery, navigate detailed maps, ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite imagery of secretive nuclear facilities reveals Beijing's efforts to expand its arsenal ...

In the lush, misty valleys of southwest China, satellite imagery reveals the country's accelerating nuclear buildup, a force designed for a new ...

Feb 16,2026
Pentagon: U.S. targets sanctioned tanker in Indian Ocean tied to illicit Venezuela oil

... satellite imagery and surface-level photos, which revealed that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in violation of the quarantine.

Feb 16,2026
Satellite Images Show Upgrades at China's Nuclear Sites | Newsmax.com

Satellite imagery shows new construction and upgrades at several nuclear-related sites in China's Sichuan province, including facilities analysts ...

Feb 16,2026
NASA Just Detected A Giant Glowing Ocean Creature On Satellite Images - TheTravel

NASA Just Detected A Giant Glowing Ocean Creature On Satellite Images ... Image (Optional). Upload Image Remove Image. Cancel Submit.

Feb 16,2026
Satellite internet provider Starlink officially licenced to operate in Vietnam

Satellite internet service is about to be launched in Vietnam. (Illustrative image: mst.gov.vn). Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has authorised satellite ...

Feb 16,2026
US used mobile launchers for missiles at Qatar base as Iran tensions rose, satellite pictures show

Satellite image shows F-15E, A-10 Thunderbolt, and C-130 Hercules at ... Satellite image shows the Shahid Bagheri, an Iranian drone carrier ...

Feb 16,2026
LOOK AT THIS! This is the satellite imagery of the low pressure system that's brought severe ...

LOOK AT THIS! This is the satellite imagery of the low pressure system that's brought severe weather to Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi ...

Feb 16,2026
Are Russia & China Using The Distraction To Build Something Sinister? - YouTube

... commercial satellite imagery has revealed fresh U.S. Patriot PAC-3 missile defense deployments in Bahrain, highlighting Washington's preparations ...

Feb 16,2026
They Wanted to See Earth, but They Captured Starlink Instead: Here's the Image That Wasn ...

An internet user recently spotted something unusual on Google Earth: a SpaceX Starlink telecommunications satellite passing directly in front of ...

Feb 16,2026
Formosat-8 satellite better than expected, TASA says - Taipei Times

... imaging tests. A Formosat-8 satellite orbits Earth in a simulated image. Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Space Agency. The first batch of images ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite Images Reveal China Expanding Nuclear Arsenal New satellite imagery analyzed ...

New satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times shows China accelerating the expansion of its nuclear weapons program. In Sichuan's “Zitong” ...

Feb 16,2026
Welsh munitions factory seen as crucial to boosting UK stockpiles and aiding Ukraine is yet to open

Satellite imagery of the BAE Systems complex in Glascoed, Wales, in 2024 · The Tempest fighter jet is unveiled at the Farnborough airshow in 2018.

Feb 16,2026
US forces board second Venezuela‑linked oil tanker in Indian Ocean - The Guardian

Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, told The Associated Press in January that his organisation used satellite imagery and surface ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite Launches
SpaceX launches 600th Falcon 9 rocket to date with Starlink flight from Vandenberg

Update Feb. 14, 10:45 p.m. EST (0345 UTC): SpaceX deployed the 24 Starlink satellites. SpaceX continued its busy weekend with the launch of its ...

Feb 16,2026
Analysis: Taiwan's Formosat-8 signals a shift beyond silicon to space power - digitimes

In the final days before the Lunar New Year, a series of high-resolution satellite images began circulating on Taiwanese social media.

Feb 16,2026
Satellite imagery of secretive nuclear facilities reveals Beijing's efforts to expand its arsenal ...

... launch sites. “They must have concluded renovation work, as the systems are clearly visible,” Gur said. “We just don't know if they are new ...

Feb 16,2026
SpaceX to launch Starlink mission from Florida coast - ClickOrlando

SpaceX plans to send another batch of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Feb 16,2026
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch predawn Starlink mission on President's Day

The Starlink 6-103 mission will add 29 broadband internet satellites to the company's low Earth orbit megaconstellation of more than 9,600 spacecraft.

Feb 16,2026
Musk Is Beating China's 203,000 Paper Satellites - Bloomberg

Space race. Source: AGP/Getty Images ... They don't have to enter orbit until the early 2030s, and the only penalty if they're never launched is that ...

Feb 16,2026
6 Reasons a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter Matters to Us All | Rocket Lab

Mission Success: Rocket Lab Launches Korean Earth-Imaging Satellite, Completes 2nd Launch in Read more · Mission Success: Rocket Lab Launches Korean ...

Feb 16,2026
NASA Just Detected A Giant Glowing Ocean Creature On Satellite Images - TheTravel

NASA launched PACE in 2024, and so far, PACE has served as a vitally important tool for scientists as they try to learn more about phytoplankton ...

Feb 16,2026
NASA launches twin rocket missions from Alaska to study mysterious black auroras | Space

NASA launched two rockets from Alaska this week to learn more ... Satellites · Astronomy · Solar System · The Sun · Asteroids · Mars · Comets · Mercury ...

Feb 16,2026
China 'Expands' Its Secret Nuclear Sites in Sichuan, Warns US “Plotting” on Taiwan Risks “War" |4K

New satellite images reveal major upgrades to China's nuclear ... U.S. Military Launches Attacks In Iranian Backyard; Bombs Dropped Over 30 Targets In ...

Feb 16,2026
China Launches AI-Driven Satellite Constellation to Transform Space Computing

Working with international partners, Zhejiang Lab launched 12 satellites ... ESA Switches on Night-Time Imaging for Sentinel-2A Copernicus Satellite [P…

Feb 16,2026
They Wanted to See Earth, but They Captured Starlink Instead: Here's the Image That Wasn ...

SpaceX typically shares images of its satellites only during deployment shortly after launch. Once operational, each Starlink satellite extends ...

Feb 16,2026
Formosat-8 satellite better than expected, TASA says - Taipei Times

... satellite released its first images on Wednesday last week. FS-8A was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It began official imaging missions last month ...

Feb 16,2026
WATCH | SpaceX Expands Starlink Network with Latest Falcon 9 Launch | APT - YouTube

SpaceX successfully launched a new batch of 24 Starlink satellites aboard its Falcon 9 rocket ... Real Images Of Venus Show That Something Is ...

Feb 16,2026
WATCH: SpaceX Sends 24 Starlink Satellites To Orbit, Four Astronauts Head To ISS

SpaceX successfully launched 24 Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 ... Real Images Of Venus Show That Something Is Seriously Off With The Planet.

Feb 16,2026
China TRACKING U.S Warships, F-35 Jets For Iran? U.S Military Build-Up EXPOSED

Imagine this: China's satellites are watching everything the U.S. is ... And now, they've even shared detailed imagery of Patriot missile ...

Feb 16,2026
$1.5-Billion NISAR Satellite Powers Near-Real-Time Soil Moisture Tracking Across India

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is systematically imaging the Indian landmass in S- and L-bands, delivering high-resolution ...

Feb 16,2026
Meet the American spies who helped mammograms save more lives - Fortune

... satellite images. Sharp edges and roadways helped the system locate its ... launch Apple to the government spy tech that put GPS and Google ...

Feb 16,2026
The Space Infrastructure Builder Stumbles While the Launch Provider Burns Through Cash Faster

Gross margin sits at 57%, dramatically better than either Redwire or Firefly. The satellite imagery business is more mature, and cash grew 180% year- ...

Feb 16,2026
What happens if WW3 breaks out in space from unstoppable nukes to city blackouts - The US Sun

“That's why they demonstrated a ground-launched anti-satellite capability before the invasion [of Ukraine] and have developed ground-based lasers to ...

Feb 16,2026
EO-MSI
"BUT IT'S GOLDEN, LIKE DAYLIGHT" NASA shared a breathtaking photo of Earth ...

... satellite sensor sees it. While sunglint can obscure details like ... Neo Maming Saramayo. John Nadera pakita mo ang shot na kapanipaniwala ...

Feb 16,2026
ABS Strengthens and Expands Regional Connectivity Reach Through Strategic Partnership ...

ABS renews and expands HorizonSat partnership to boost EMEA coverage, integrate ground services, and deliver end-to-end satellite connectivity ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite imagery of secretive nuclear facilities reveals Beijing's efforts to expand its arsenal ...

... (ISI) Eros B satellite indicates Chinese preparations for new land-based missile installations on an increasingly strategic island base in the ...

Feb 16,2026
Grandfather: February 15, 2026 - StarDate Online

In the western world, they're part of the constellation Columba, the dove. But in ancient China they were known as the Grandfather. The stars are ...

Feb 16,2026
Satellite internet provider Starlink officially licenced to operate in Viet Nam

Viet Nam has authorised satellite internet provider Starlink to operate after regulators granted licences for low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite ...

Feb 16,2026
Three Key Stocks in Buffett's Portfolio | Intellectia.AI

Constellation Brands Challenges: Constellation Brands, a smaller ... Evercore ISI analyst John Pancari lowered the firm's price target on ...

Feb 16,2026
Grandfather - StarDate Online

In the western world, they are part of the constellation Columba, the dove. But in ancient China the due was known as the Grandfather. ← Previous ...

Feb 16,2026
SSA

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