The Space Force launch enterprise is slashing the time it takes to get a payload into space. Over the past year, USSF’s Assured Access to Space office integrated a GPS satellite with a new rocket and prepped it for launch in under five months, less than a quarter of the typical two-year timeline.
What began as a series of proof-of-concept experiments, beginning with Victus Nox—Latin for “conquer the night”—and a follow-on coming soon called Victus Haze, is evolving into a new way of doing business.
“In the Space Force, we hear a lot about Tactically Responsive Space, and that’s done more on the small launch side, like the Victus series,” said AATS director Brig. Gen. Kristin L. Panzenhagen in a Schriever Spacepower Series event with AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “So we took a look in the Assured Access to Space portfolio, and said, ‘Well, you know, I think we can do this with the larger lift.'”
Dubbed Rapid Response Trailblazer, it is the first rapid launch of that scale, with a follow-on GPS satellite launch planned for this month. Panzenhagen said the aim is to make this more routine.
“That doesn’t work for every mission,” she said. The satellite program offices have to adjust too. But the question being asked now, she added, is “Can we build in that flexibility?”
In terms of launch, “We’ve built in on our side the ability to accelerate launches,” Panzenhagen said. “So there are already pre-priced options on our contract to accelerate launches.”
More rapid launch would enable the Space Force to respond more quickly to changing situations, such as the need to counter an adversary’s actions or to replace a damaged satellite. But it can also help to deconflict an increasingly crowded and complex launch schedule.
In the case of the most recent GPS launches, a delay certifying the originally intended launch platform demanded the switch. It was possible because the satellites could be easily integrated with the rocket, a delicate process called “encapsulation.”
“Integration standards are a huge piece of this,” Panzenhagen said. “If a satellite has a lot of unique interface requirements, whether due to its geometry or due to power requirements, that increases the amount of time that you need to design the interface between the satellite and the booster. … But if you can integrate to standards, that makes it a lot easier.”
Space Systems Command boss Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant said at last month’s Space Symposium that Rapid Response Trailblazer proves the Space Force “can be responsive in very traditional programs and prioritize legacy programs like GPS when we need to.”
Now the AATS directorate is working on yet another responsive launch effort. Col. Richard Kniseley, then-head of the Commercial Space Office, said at the Space Symposium that the office wants to add launch to its Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve program, which aims to establish pre-negotiated pricing for commercial capabilities. Initially, the idea was to focus on commercial satellite products, but Kniseley said launch is also in the mix.
Kniseley said the focus is on small launch vehicles, an application that Panzenhagen’s team is familiar with through its Orbital Services Program-4, as well as the Rocket Systems Launch Program. Both are smaller than National Security Space Launch, and both include more providers.
“[In] the Rocket Systems Launch Program, our suborbital contract, we’ve got five providers, and then in our smaller orbital contract OSP-4, we’ve got 12,” Panzenhagen said. “So there’s a pretty wide range to give us assured access to space.”
Garrant has said he sees “a lot of synergy” between the programs, and that the shared goal of assured access to space in as little time as possible is essential.
Panzenhagen agreed: “That’s the key,” she said. “Making sure, as our launch tempo and launch cadence is increasing, that we’re using our resources to mitigate the most important risks, and we’re using our resources smartly.”