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U.S. Space Force Tests Satellite Inspection Mission with True Anomaly and Rocket Lab
The two companies finished a complex orbital inspection mission last week in which Jackal approached and imaged Rocket Lab’s Puma spacecraft. TechCrunch reported the exercise demonstrated rapid launch and proximity operations for the U.S. Space Force.
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True Anomaly and Rocket Lab completed a satellite rendezvous mission called Victus Haze for the U.S. Space Force last week, TechCrunch reported. Rocket Lab launched a spacecraft named Puma 16 hours and 42 minutes after receiving notice.
A Jackal spacecraft built by True Anomaly then used onboard sensors to locate and identify the target from 2,000 kilometers away. Jackal flew close to Puma, orbited the vehicle, captured imagery of different sections, and returned to its starting point. The exact distance of the closest approach remains classified.
True Anomaly CEO Even Rogers said the operation ranks among the most complex rendezvous and proximity maneuvers between two spacecraft in modern history outside human spaceflight missions. Rogers stated that China and Russia regularly launch new space capabilities and that the Space Force needs to understand them. He added that gaps currently exist in U.S.
Collection capability. True Anomaly was founded in 2022 by Rogers and former military space experts and has raised just over $1 billion, including a $650 million round in March. The company plans to compete for task orders under the U.S.
Space Force’s $6.2 billion Andromeda program. Rocket Lab recently announced its acquisition of Iridium. The two firms are preparing additional exercises in the coming weeks that will increase in difficulty and may include evasion and counter-inspection maneuvers.
The U.S. Space Force was created in 2019.
