July 18, 2024
Blog
Starcatcher
“Going to space today is like camping in the wilderness”
Space launch has been solved—now we need a better way to stay there
The reality today: Going to space today is like camping in the wilderness: everyone must carry every resource they need, including power, with nothing else to rely on.
This means huge upfront production costs to build satellites with massive redundancy and power sources. Once in space, there is no opportunity to augment capabilities with more power or extend a mission.
Iterating for Mission X Flight Test 2
Fast design cycles are required to outpace the evolution of the contested operational space environment. True Anomaly is differentiated by our ability to rapidly iterate the design of our spacecraft and software as well as to assemble and qualify spacecraft in record time. We’re planning our second Jackal flight test within the next 12 months.
Our engineering team has narrowed down the potential root causes of our mission challenges and is finalizing Flight Test 1 data analysis to confirm their findings. Based on our learnings so far, we intend to implement the following changes to Jackal for
Flight Test 2:
- Improved ground test infrastructure for pre-flight testing
- Lighter weight structure for increased maneuverability and payload capacity
- Upgraded avionics for compute and input/output
- Increased vehicle autonomy
Upgrades to Mosaic for vehicle identification, contact, and data collection
When we founded True Anomaly, our objective was to develop a full technology stack we wish we had access to when we were space operators in uniform. In just two years, our team has emerged from stealth, gained the confidence of both investors and customers, secured our first U.S. government contracts, grown to 120 employees, and developed Mosaic, unlocking command and control for dynamic space operations.
The challenges we experienced with Flight Test 1 validate True Anomaly’s thesis: the U.S. and its allies need modern, robust Space Domain Awareness capabilities and a responsive, innovative industrial base. Mission X Flight Test 1 has proven invaluable to our team and made our path forward even more certain by revealing significant lessons learned that will help us continue to progress on rapidly building, testing, and delivering products to solve critical space security challenges.
Now, it’s time to get back to work to deliver on our vision of a secure, stable, and sustainable space environment for the U.S., its allies, and partners.
Visit our Mission X page to learn more, sign up for updates, and watch “The Space Security Challenge,” the first in our Mission X video series.
Flight Test 3:
- Improved ground test infrastructure for pre-flight testing
- Lighter weight structure for increased maneuverability and payload capacity
- Upgraded avionics for compute and input/output
- Increased vehicle autonomy
Upgrades to Mosaic for vehicle identification, contact, and data collection
When we founded True Anomaly, our objective was to develop a full technology stack we wish we had access to when we were space operators in uniform. In just two years, our team has emerged from stealth, gained the confidence of both investors and customers, secured our first U.S. government contracts, grown to 120 employees, and developed Mosaic, unlocking command and control for dynamic space operations.
The challenges we experienced with Flight Test 1 validate True Anomaly’s thesis: the U.S. and its allies need modern, robust Space Domain Awareness capabilities and a responsive, innovative industrial base. Mission X Flight Test 1 has proven invaluable to our team and made our path forward even more certain by revealing significant lessons learned that will help us continue to progress on rapidly building, testing, and delivering products to solve critical space security challenges.
Now, it’s time to get back to work to deliver on our vision of a secure, stable, and sustainable space environment for the U.S., its allies, and partners.