The U.S. Space Force is developing an orbital “aircraft carrier” that could rapidly deploy new spacecraft.
The Seattle-based Gravitics was awarded the $60 million contract to create a system that would operate as a satellite carrier in space, rapidly deploying “maneuverable space vehicles” to counter threats.
“The Orbital Carrier is a game-changer, acting as a prepositioned launch pad in space,” Gravitics CEO Colin Doughan said in a press release. “It bypasses traditional launch constraints, enabling space vehicle operators to rapidly select a deployment orbit on demand.”
According to the company, “The Orbital Carrier is designed to pre-position multiple maneuverable space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit. This carrier will provide the U.S. Space Force with unprecedented flexibility and speed for in-space operations, significantly enhancing the nation’s space defense posture.”
The Orbital Carrier could be used to deploy spacecraft to counter Chinese or Russian craft looking to “dogfight” in space, in the words of one Space Force general, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein.
Guetlein divulged an exercise by the Chinese in low orbit in 2024, involving “five different objects in space maneuvering in and out and around each other in synchronicity, and in control.”
“That’s what we call dogfighting in space,” he said at the McAleese and Associates annual Defense Programs Conference, according to Air and Space Forces magazine. “They are practicing tactics, techniques, and procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another.”
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The new Orbital Carrier project represents growing U.S. military interest in space, a domain once considered entirely peaceful.
The war in Ukraine showcased the importance of satellites for intelligence, drawing fears that an adversary could look to “blind” the United States by taking them out through various means.
