Private space pilots fly orbital missions for the US Space Force

Militaries routinely send satellites to fly by competing vehicles and explore their capabilities, but expanding this type of reconnaissance is increasingly seen by the U.S. military as a challenge best handled by the private sector.

That’s why two space startups, True Anomaly and Rocket Lab, completed a rendezvous mission for the US Space Force last week that was so complex it was something out of the ordinary. Top Gun. The two competing satellites met in orbit, close enough for one to be able to take pictures of the other.

The exercise, dubbed Victus Haze, demonstrated the careful inspection of a spacecraft shortly after it reaches orbit, which is essential in a world where the United States, Russia and China are deploying new space weapons.

“China and Russia launch capabilities into space on a regular basis, and part of the Space Force’s mission is to understand what those capabilities are,” True Anomaly CEO Evan Rogers, a veteran of the U.S. military’s space efforts, told TechCrunch. “We now have gaps in our ability to collect data.”

The June mission saw Rocket Lab, SpaceX’s rival rocket builder that recently announced its acquisition of Iridium, launch a spacecraft called Puma just 16 hours and 42 minutes after receiving notice, which is notable because most rocket launches are conducted months in advance.

A Jackal spacecraft built by True Anomaly was waiting in orbit to intercept it. As part of the exercise, the company did not know where Puma would reach space, but used sensors on board to find and identify its target from a distance of 2,000 kilometers. The Jackal then flew close to the target – exactly how close it was rated – and circled around it, taking images of different parts of the rover, before returning to its starting point in orbit.

The CEO of True Anomaly said that, outside of NASA and Space Force spaceflight missions with humans, “this is perhaps the most complex rendezvous and convergence process between two spacecraft in modern history.”

Bringing together two spacecraft in orbit, each moving at speeds approaching 17,500 miles per hour, is no easy challenge. Previous private demonstrations, such as those conducted by Northrop Grumman’s maintenance satellites or Astroscale’s orbital garbage-hunting missions, have operated on slower time frames.

And now things get interesting: The two companies are set to conduct new exercises in the coming weeks with increasing difficulty, which could include Rocket Lab’s Puma trying to evade the True Anomaly’s Jackal and performing its own inspection maneuvers.

Founded in 2022 by Rogers and a cadre of former military space experts, True Anomaly is building both hardware and software to enable the new missions assigned to the U.S. Space Force when it was created in 2019. After several years of development missions, a demonstration last month began realizing that vision.

“That’s the secret sauce of this company,” said Seth Wentroth, a partner at Eclipse Ventures and a member of True Anomaly’s board of directors. “It’s not about engineering one spacecraft, one program, or one particular set of payloads — it’s a deep understanding of what tactics and doctrine look like in the field.”

True Anomaly has raised just over $1 billion, including a $650 million round in March. Now, the company will look to compete for a number of mission orders, particularly in the Space Force’s $6.2 billion Andromeda program, which is looking to the private sector for this type of maneuverable reconnaissance.

“Aviation heritage is everything, and proven capability is what speaks loudest about these opportunities,” Rogers said.