DALLAS—The Space Force official tasked with overseeing more than $24 billion in research and development spending says the Pentagon is more interested in supporting startups creating new space sensors and payloads than adding another rocket company to its portfolio.
The statement, made at a space finance conference in Dallas last week, was one of several points Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy wanted to get across to a room full of investors and commercial space executives.
Other points on Purdy’s agenda were that the Space Force is more interested in high volume production than spending money to develop the latest technologies, and that the Army has, at least for now, lost one of its most important tools to support and diversify the space industrial base.
The rhetoric about prioritizing payloads on launchers aligns with the Space Force’s recent history of supporting small startups. Since 2020, SpaceWERX, the Space Force’s commercial innovation program, has awarded 23 funding agreementsFor commercial space startups developing new sensors, software, satellite components, spacecraft buses and orbital transfer vehicles – called Strategic Funding Increases (STRATFIs). SpaceWERX awarded the single STRATFI agreement to one launch company—ABL Space Systems—and that firm has since exited the space launch market.
“We’re on track for a massive launch,” said Purdy, the military deputy for space acquisition at the Department of the Air Force. “We have positioned our range so that we can do mass-produced launches. We have our data centers and our data infrastructure for mass production. We have AI pieces that are mass-produced, satellite buses are almost there, and our payloads are the final element. Payload, at scale, is the key element at mass-produced affordability.”
K2’s Gravitas satellite, set for launch next month, will test the company’s Hall-effect thrusters, solar arrays and other systems.
Credit: K2
K2’s Gravitas satellite, set for launch next month, will test the company’s Hall-effect thrusters, solar arrays and other systems.
Credit: K2
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Payloads, Purdy told Ars after his talk, are the “final frontier” for enhancing space missions. “The point is to complete the missions as quickly as possible. Two to three years is too slow. We have to work for a week. I’m not talking about super exclusives [payloads]. That’s not most of our missions. Commercial Industry, Your Kuipers [Amazon LEO]Your Starlinks have kind of taken over the comms piece, but we’re still struggling with a lot of other things.
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