A dramatic orbital rendezvous tested rapid inspection and proximity tactics, revealing how private firms now execute defense missions in orbit.
Two private space companies True Anomaly and Rocket Lab successfully completed an on-orbit docking mission for the U.S. Space Force – a task so complex that it’s likened to scenes from the Top Gun movie. The Victus Haze mission aimed to demonstrate the ability to perform a close inspection of a spacecraft immediately after reaching orbit, a capability that becomes particularly significant in an era when the United States, Russia, and China are deploying new space weapons.
China and Russia regularly launch space capabilities, and the mission of the U.S. Space Forces is to understand exactly what those capabilities are.
– Even Rogers
Orbital docking and its significance for defense
In June, Rocket Lab, SpaceX’s competitor that recently announced the acquisition of Iridium, launched Puma just 16 hours and 42 minutes after receipt of the notification – an impressive launch speed for the industry. The Jackal satellite, built by True Anomaly, waited in orbit to intercept; it used onboard sensors to detect a target at about 2,000 kilometers away, approached it and captured various parts of the spacecraft, after which it returned to the initial orbit.
This is arguably the most complex docking and close-approach operation between two spacecraft in modern history.
– Even Rogers
According to Seth Winterrota, a partner at Eclipse Ventures, the secret of the company lies not in a particular architecture or software, but in a deep understanding of how tactics and doctrine in this area are formed.
True Anomaly was founded in 2022 by Evan Rogers and a group of former national security space experts. After several years of development, last month’s demonstration began implementing the company’s vision: developing hardware and software for tasks set by the U.S. Space Force, notably under the Andromeda program worth $6.2 billion. This underscores the private sector’s role in space intelligence operations.
The piece demonstrates the growing role of the private sector in their global space missions, where private players play a key role in advancing technologies, orbital operations, and defense intelligence.