Pentagon buyer: We’re happy with our launch industry, but payloads are lagging
DALLAS — The Space Force officer responsible for overseeing more than $24 billion in research and development spending says the Pentagon is more interested in supporting startups that build 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 space sector investors and business executives.
Other points on Purdy’s agenda were that the Space Force is more interested in high-volume production than spending to develop the latest technologies, and that the military has, at least for now, lost one of its most important tools for supporting and diversifying the space industrial base.
The rhetoric around prioritizing payloads over launch vehicles 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 agreements— called Strategic Funding Increments (STRATFI) — to commercial space startups developing new sensors, software, satellite components, spacecraft buses and orbital transfer vehicles. SpaceWERX awarded a single STRATFI agreement to one launch company – ABL Space Systems – and that company has since exited the space launch market.
“We are on track for a mass-produced launch,” said Purdy, deputy military officer for space acquisition at the Department of the Air Force. “We have our ranges situated so that we can do mass launches. We have our data centers and our data structure for mass production. We have AI parts that are mass produced, the satellite buses are almost there and our payloads are the last piece. Mass-produced payloads at an affordable price, at scale, are the key piece.”
K2’s Gravitas satellite, scheduled to launch next month, will test the company’s Hall thruster, solar panels and other systems.
Credit: K2
K2’s Gravitas satellite, scheduled to launch next month, will test the company’s Hall thruster, solar panels and other systems.
Credit: K2
Put the money in
Payloads, Purdy told Ars after his speech, are “the final frontier” for scaling space missions. “The goal is to complete missions as quickly as possible. Two to three years is too slow. We have to stop at one week. I’m not talking about super exquisite.” [payloads]. This is not most of our missions. Commercial industry, your Kuipers [Amazon LEO]your Starlinks, have somehow managed to master communication, but we still struggle in a lot of other areas.
