A Space Force spokesman said the Victus Haze mission was more complex than Victus Nox, involving two prime contractors, two spacecraft and two rocket launches from different spaceports, all scheduled to take place in a short period of time.” to keep the presentation as authentic as possible” Als.
“This demonstration will ultimately prepare the U.S. Space Force to provide future forces to combatant commands to conduct rapid operations to respond to adversary in-orbit aggression,” Space Systems Command said in a statement.
Confidence in commercial space
“This is a very important operational demonstration that really pushes the envelope of technology and demonstrates confidence in the U.S. industrial base,” Rogers said.
“This is basically the first time an unknown capability has been described in low-Earth orbit,” Rogers told Ars. “With that comes a set of challenges, is the communications coverage consistent, how does it work in space? What is the correct level of autonomy and human interaction for tracking maneuvering objects in low Earth orbit with limited domain awareness capabilities?”
True Anomaly’s first two Jackal satellites were launched last month on a SpaceX rideshare mission, but the company announced weeks later that the satellites would not be able to complete the planned rendezvous demonstration. This will be a precursor to the type of activity True Anomaly and Rocket Lab will demonstrate at Victus Haze.
Rogers said his company is working on two other demonstration missions that will fly before Victus Haze.
The military’s Defense Innovation Unit awarded Rocket Lab $32 million as part of its Victus Haze mission. True Anomaly’s contract with SpaceWERX, the Space Force’s innovation arm, is worth $30 million. True Anomaly is contributing $30 million in private capital to help pay for the mission, bringing the total cost of Victus Haze to about $92 million. Space Safari, a division of Space Systems Command, oversees the entire program.
“We recognize the significant opportunity to leverage innovation in the commercial space industry to counter China, a threat to the United States,” said Col. Brian McLean, program executive officer for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power at Space Systems Command. “The United States has the most innovation in the world. sexual space industry. Victus Haze will demonstrate our ability to respond to irresponsible behavior in orbit under real operating conditions.”
“Once the build phase is complete, the mission will enter several consecutive phases, including hot standby, activation, alert and launch phases,” the Space Force said. “While this is a coordinated demonstration, each vendor will receive unique launch and Mission Profile.”
Space Systems Command said True Anomaly’s Jackal satellite, which is nearly as big as a refrigerator, will launch on “quick-share” missions from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida or Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This will most likely be a ride-share launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. As with last year’s Victus Nox mission, launching via a rideshare flight presents different challenges than launching via a dedicated rocket.
True Anomaly says it can remove the satellite from storage and integrate it with the rocket in 12 to 84 hours, depending on the launch provider’s flight cadence. After True Anomaly’s Jackal launches, the Space Force will issue a 24-hour call to Rocket Lab to launch its satellite, which is similar in size to True Anomaly’s spacecraft, using an Electron rocket from New Zealand or Virginia. Rocket Lab’s launch must be precisely timed to allow its satellite to rendezvous with the True Anomaly spacecraft in orbit.