The successful rapid launch and orbit 12 days ago of a space domain awareness satellite puts the U.S. Space Force on track to meet its goal to have tactically responsive space (TacRS) capabilities in 2026, a service official said on Tuesday.
“I think that we’ve shown that the processes, the procedures, the technology, everything is there,” Lt. Col. MacKenzie Birchenough, material leader for Space Safari, Space Systems Command, told reporters during a virtual media roundtable.
Having a budget in place and the “desire to go with it” are critical “but I would say that we’re right on track for making that capability a reality,” she said.
The Space Force on Sept. 15 launched the VICTUS NOX mission, which involved Firefly Aerospace lifting a Millennium Space Systems-built satellite into low-Earth orbit aboard its Alpha launch vehicle. The team achieved launch-ready status within the 24-hour goal of launch notice and then lifted off within hours once the launch window opened. The VICTUS NOX satellite achieved checkout and operational readiness within 37 hours after launch, 11 hours ahead of the two-day goal.
Millennium, which is a subsidiary of Boeing [BA], said satellite checkout and readiness on orbit typically takes weeks to months.
The next major TacRS demonstration will be VICTUS HAZE, which is being acquired by the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). VICTUS HAZE will demonstrate the rapid launch of a satellite that would be positioned near a simulated spacecraft to inspect it for domain awareness. The DIU is planning for that mission to occur within 12 to 18 months.
The Space Force will be pushing industry to work to speed its efforts so that build, launch, and orbit timelines compress even further, Maj. Jason Altenhofen, deputy branch chief, Space Safari, told reporters.
The VICTUS HAZE opportunity demonstrates to industry that the demand for TacRS is real, he said, and the Space Force wants to take advantage of commercial investments that have resulted in more launch providers and satellite manufacturers competing in the marketplace.
“And the intent is really to send a strong demand signal to help us have a healthy base of providers that can do these types of missions,” Altenhofen said. “So, our goal with these efforts is to get on a faster timeline, even continue to push these timelines faster and also deliver more capability.”
So far, there have been “hundreds” of lessons learned from the early stages of VICTUS NOX showing room for efficiencies to shorten timelines, Birchenough said. These include things like how to better transport launch vehicles around the country, how to better store them, deconflicting with other planned launches on a range, and start the on-orbit mission sooner, she said.
These lessons will benefit the VICTUS HAZE demonstration, she said.
“I think you could walk through every single phase and every single step of this and kind of refine those processes,” Birchenough said. “And that’s really what this mission was all about.”