What’s the story?
Aechelon, Niantic, ICEYE, BlackSky and Distance team up on Project Orbion, a live AI-powered digital twin of Earth.
Why it matters
Project Orbion supports disaster response, defense training, and AI model development with real-world data.
XR industry context
Orbion underscores XR’s role in combining live Earth data with AI to support mission-critical defense and emergency planning scenarios.
In Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality News
September 11, 2025 – Aechelon Technology, a developer of geospatial simulation and AI training systems, has this week announced Project Orbion, a new initiative with partners Niantic Spatial, ICEYE, BlackSky and Distance Technologies to create what the companies describe as a live digital twin of the Earth.
Project Orbion integrates real-time satellite imagery, radar intelligence, photogrammetry and AI to reconstruct the planet in dynamic 3D with accurate physics and real-time weather. The system is designed to support situational awareness in contexts ranging from natural disasters to defense operations.
According to Aechelon, the “Synthetic Reality” data supplied through Project Orbion will be used to train defense and corporate AI models with real-world data, as opposed to human-generated data. The platform is capable of penetrating clouds, smoke and darkness to deliver updated 3D representations of the Earth for decision-making in critical environments.
The partners involved in Project Orbion are each contributing their own distinct technologies:
- Niantic Spatial: Large Geospatial Model reconstruction and visualization, with plans to explore integration of its Visual Positioning System (VPS) with Aechelon’s simulation systems for centimeter-level localization in GPS-denied environments.
- ICEYE: Space-based radar imaging satellites, already evaluated by Aechelon’s Skybeam platform for fusing orbital SAR radar with geospatial databases.
- BlackSky: High-resolution, high-cadence Earth observation imagery and analytics with end-to-end AI-enabled automation.
- Distance Technologies: Light field 3D augmented reality (AR) displays for aerospace simulation and defense applications.
“Aechelon has spent decades creating the most realistic synthetic environments for mission-critical defense training,” said Nacho Sanz-Pastor, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Aechelon Technology. “The partnership with Niantic Spatial, ICEYE, BlackSky and Distance will enable Project Orbion (over the next months and years) to address dual-use, mission-critical applications that until now were just in the realm of science fiction.”
Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO, added: “BlackSky’s AI-first approach carries immense value in informing a new world of AI-enabled real-time applications – digital twins, virtual and augmented reality – that increasingly moves at machine speed.”
Executives from Niantic Spatial, ICEYE, and Distance also noted that their technologies will support enhanced situational awareness, disaster response, real-time analytics, and next-generation defense simulation systems as part of the initiative.
Aechelon stated that Project Orbion builds on its military-grade Synthetic Reality visualization platform, which replicates real-world environments to enable both humans and machines to operate in detailed scenarios and train for complex, high-stakes situations in immersive, ultra-realistic virtual settings.
For more information on Project Orbion, visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Aechelon
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About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.