The U.S. Space Force has selected two private space companies for a mission aimed at demonstrating how the military branch will counter “on-orbit aggression” perpetrated by an adversary such as China.
Colorado-based space security company True Anomaly was awarded $30 million through the Space Force’s innovation arm, SpaceWERX. True Anomaly will also “leverage $30 million of internal private capital” for the mission.
The two companies will each create a rendezvous and proximity operation-capable spacecraft and a command and control center for the mission, dubbed Victus Haze, according to the statement. The objective of the mission is for the two companies to “exercise a realistic threat response scenario in an orbit space domain awareness.”
Col. Bryon McClain, Space Systems Command’s program executive officer for space domain awareness and combat power, named China as an orbital adversary of the United States.
“We recognize the significant opportunity to leverage the commercial space industry’s innovations to counter China as America’s pacing threat,” he said in a statement. “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.”
The delivery date for the two companies is set for “no later than fall 2025,” according to Space Systems Command.
True Anomaly will launch its spacecraft from either Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida or Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Rocket Lab will launch via its Electron launch vehicle from either Mahia, New Zealand, or Wallops Island, Virginia.
“Once on orbit, the operations teams will conduct a variety of scenarios to demonstrate [space domain awareness] and characterization capabilities,” Space Systems Command stated.
Commercial Space Strategy
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, warned on April 10 that the United States is at risk of ceding its dominant position in space to Russia and China.“The Space Force must harness the benefits of technological innovation and emerging capabilities if we are going to be able to outcompete our competitors.
“Or the Space Force will lose, the Joint Force will lose, and the U.S. will lose.”
To best harness technological innovation, Gen. Saltzman said it is important to strengthen the Space Force’s relationship with the commercial industry, pointing to its newly released Commercial Space Strategy document.
“In space operations, we have become more comfortable with using commercial capabilities to add capacity than we have with fully integrated commercial capabilities into our force design,“ Gen. Saltzman said. ”It is this basic thought that led to the U.S. Space Force’s Commercial Space Strategy.”
However, he noted, the document “is not a panacea.”
“It does not provide all the answers,” Gen. Saltzman said. “But I do think it frames the discussion that must take place, it sets the conditions for productive collaboration, and it starts the critical processes needed to accelerate the purposeful pursuit of hybrid space architectures.”
“The Department will leverage a range of tools across all domains to deter aggression against and defeat threats to U.S. national security interest, including all space segments and, when appropriate, commercial space solutions,” the Pentagon’s document reads. “In appropriate circumstances, the use of military force to protect and defend commercial assets could be directed.”
The Pentagon’s strategy lists four principles for using commercial space solutions, including balancing government and commercial solutions to avoid “overreliance on any single provider or solution” and prioritizing resilience by increasing the number of commercial providers and diversifying supply chains.
