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Ibadan, 15 April 2024. – The United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC), in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and SpaceWERX, is awarding separate contracts to Rocket Lab and True Anomaly. The vendors will exercise a realistic threat response scenario in an on-orbit space domain awareness (SDA) demonstration called VICTUS HAZE.
DIU awarded a contract to Rocket Lab National Security at a value of $32 million, while SpaceWERX will award a contract to True Anomaly. Of the total $60 million necessary for the effort, the Government will fund $30 million, and True Anomaly will leverage $30 million of internal private capital.
With both efforts, VICTUS HAZE is leveraging commercially developed products to provide highly capable options for future Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) operations. The multi-vehicle demonstration enables operationally relevant systems that can be leveraged for future urgent on-orbit needs. VICTUS HAZE will also enable the development of the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for a rapid response to on-orbit threats.
True Anomaly and Rocket Lab will consequently demonstrate their abilities to build rendezvous and proximity operation (RPO) capable space vehicles (SVs) and command and control centers. Once both Companies complete the build phase, the mission will enter several successive phases, including hot standby, activation, alert and launch phases. Once both companies’ space vehicles are in orbit, the operations teams will conduct a variety of scenarios to demonstrate SDA and characterization capabilities.
Lt. Col. MacKenzie Birchenough, SSC’s materiel leader for Space Safari, said, “The commercial space industry is advancing at an unprecedented pace that will provide the Space Force additional options to quickly respond to adversary aggression. VICTUS HAZE will demonstrate and prove capabilities for future TacRS operations in direct support of urgent Combatant Command on-orbit needs.”
