Customer story

Slingshot Aerospace Gains CMMC, Wins $27M Contract

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Fast Compliance: CMMC certified in six months
Contract Win: Cleared a $27M defense contract
Cost Savings: Estimated at nearly $1 million a year.
Secure Access: Protected contractor endpoints

Impact Summary

Slingshot Aerospace, provider of space products and services, needed a new U.S. government security certification required to win big contracts. After adopting Island, Slingshot achieved the certification in just six months, instead of the two years it typically takes. It then was awarded an 18-month contract with the U.S. Space Force valued at $27 million.

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U.S. Space Force and commercial satellite operators.‍

Industry
‍Federal & Government

Customers
U.S. Space Force and commercial satellite operators.

Team
Aerospace engineers and security operations.

Goal
Meet strict federal security mandates to secure a multi-million dollar defense contract.

Use Cases
Compliance, 3rd Party Contractors, Data Protection

Challenges

  • Costly, year-long government compliance timelines.
  • Imminent disqualification risk from a $27M contract.
  • Securing sensitive tracking data on external contractor devices.

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‍

U.S. Space Force and commercial satellite operators.‍

Industry
‍Federal & Government

Customers
U.S. Space Force and commercial satellite operators.

Team
Aerospace engineers and security operations.

Goal
Meet strict federal security mandates to secure a multi-million dollar defense contract.

Use Cases
Compliance, 3rd Party Contractors, Data Protection

Challenges

  • Costly, year-long government compliance timelines.
  • Imminent disqualification risk from a $27M contract.
  • Securing sensitive tracking data on external contractor devices.

Prefer to read offline?

Download the PDF 

Take your next step.

Schedule a demo 

The Challenge

Slingshot Aerospace is a pioneer. Founded in 2017, Slingshot was first to offer products and services for what’s now known as Space Operations Intelligence and Autonomy (SOIA).

Slingshot’s aims to make space safe, sustainable, and secure. The company’s SOIA products and services give both government and commercial operators a unified, near-real-time view of their space activities.

Its customers include NASA, the U.S. space agency; British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat; and Eutelsat Group, a French satellite operator.

Government contracts are vital to Slingshot, and landing these contracts can require special certifications. That’s the case with the U.S. Department of War (DOW) and its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), which externally audits how contractors such a Slingshot handle specialized DOW data.

CMMC applies to both contractors and subcontractors, and it’s designed to not only strengthen their cybersecurity, but also protect the government’s own information.

The stakes were high. If Slingshot had failed to achieve CMMC, it would have been ineligible for high-security contracts with the DOW.

But the CMMC process is lengthy, complicated, and demanding, and it ends with a third-party audit. Certification involves three progressively advancing levels.

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The Solution

Slingshot’s IT and Infosec Manager, Alexander Kal, knew that achieving CMMC would require his company to change its approach to defense work. Employees and contractors alike were using a few standard browsers—Chrome, Firefox, and Safari—that fell short of the U.S. government’s specifications regarding data security. “With these browsers,” Kal explains, “there’s no way to control the flow of information.”

Kal and his colleagues discovered that the Island browser could not only meet CMMC's requirements, but also transform how their entire team works with AI.

AI wasn't originally in the plan. But Island gave Slingshot the ability to embed their preferred AI directly into every application and page in the browser, where it can read and interact with whatever is on screen. And because security, governance, and orchestration are built in, IT controls exactly how AI is used across every role and task, while security defines what AI can and cannot see.

Kal and his Slingshot colleagues began work in mid-2025. By year’s end, they had already completed their CMMC audit with Island, achieving Level 1 compliance. “We moved at a crazy speed,” Kal says. “Getting that certification usually takes two years. and Island had a big part in that.”

"Without Island, we’d need two full-time people on staff managing this information."

Alexander Kal, IT and Infosec Manager at Slingshot Aerospace

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Results

Just as quick, all of Slingshot’s 260 end users—a mix of staff and contractors—were enabled by Island. Then, in early 2026, the U.S. Space Force awarded Slingshot a contract valued at $27 million.

Under the contract’s terms, Slingshot will over 18 months upgrade the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) program with its TALOS AI agent. OTTI is responsible for integrating and synchronizing the acquisition, development, and sustainment of integrated test and training capabilities for the U.S. Space Force.

“This achievement represents more than a compliance milestone,” said Slingshot CEO Tim Solms at the time. “It reaffirms our deep-rooted culture of excellence and our unwavering commitment to protecting the critical data that underpins U.S. and allied space missions.”

Slingshot knew that it would need to achieve CMMC Level 2, and it did just that in February 2026, one month after winning the contract. This additional level validates a contractor’s ability to protect controlled unclassified information in support of U.S. Dept. of War missions.

Valuable Savings

Island is also helping Slingshot save money. Kal estimates Island’s self-management capabilities are saving the company up to $300,000 a year. “Without Island, we’d need two full-time people on staff managing this information,” he explains. “Plus, the cybersecurity risk has gone down tremendously, so I’m saving another headcount on that side.”

Island is also boosting Slingshot’s productivity, Kal says, empowering his senior staff to do nearly three times as much work when creating policies. Put it all together, and Kal estimates Island is saving Slingshot nearly $1 million a year.

Looking ahead, Kal plans to use Island to create a Zero Trust network to strengthen Slingshots cyber defenses. Once completed, this network will provide additional layers of security by thoroughly blocking unauthorized users and devices. “Island has many of the device-trust controls built in,” Kal says. “I’m very excited to take that to the next level.”

"GenAI integration with Island now is so slick. Island made AI available across everything we do by embedding it directly into the browser, while still giving IT and security the controls to manage it properly."

Alexander Kal, IT and Infosec Manager at Slingshot Aerospace

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