Rocket Lab and True Anomaly: Delivering Space Hardware for the Military
Rocket Lab and True Anomaly, two commercial companies, have been chosen by the Space Force to provide “tactically responsive” space capabilities for the military. The goal is to design and build satellites capable of rendezvousing with other spacecraft in orbit and to create command and control centers for the mission.
Rocket Lab, under its $32 million contract, will also launch the satellite using its Electron rocket. On the other hand, True Anomaly has partnered with an undisclosed “trusted commercial launch provider” for its $30 million contract.
True Anomaly has stated that it will utilize $30 million of its internal private capital for the mission. This means that they will be spending a total of $60 million to develop their Jackal spacecraft for this contract.
The target for delivering the spacecraft under the contract, known as Victus Haze, is set for fall 2025. Once the spacecraft are constructed, both Rocket Lab and True Anomaly will enter successive phases, including a “hot standby” phase where they must be ready to respond to the Department of Defense’s notice to manifest the satellite and launch. Once in orbit, they must quickly commission and prepare their spacecraft for operations, working together.
If everything goes according to plan, Rocket Lab’s Pioneer satellite will perform rendezvous and proximity operations with True Anomaly’s Jackal spacecraft.
These new contracts resemble those awarded to Firefly and Millennium Space in 2022. In that case, Millennium delivered the satellite for launch by Firefly in a mission called Victus Nox, which took place last September. The two companies had to integrate the payload and prepare the rocket in less than 58 hours, and Firefly was given only 24 hours to launch.
While specific timelines for the Victus Haze mission were not revealed by Rocket Lab or True Anomaly, Rocket Lab did mention in a statement that the mission “will improve… processes and timelines.”
The new mission also includes additional challenging requirements, such as on-orbit spacecraft maneuvering, which simulates a real-life rendezvous with an adversary satellite.
“We recognize the significant opportunity to leverage the commercial space industry’s innovations to counter China as America’s pacing threat,” said Col. Bryon McClain, Space Systems Command program executive officer. “The United States has the most innovative space industry in the world. Victus Haze will demonstrate, under operationally realistic conditions, our ability to respond to irresponsible behavior on orbit.”