In 1983, President Ronald Regan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, codenamed the "Star Wars program," a DoD-led space-based developmental security system that would, in theory, use a combination of particle beams and powerful computers to stave off a nuclear attack. Although steeped in fiction and readily derided by both critics and mutuals alike, the SDIO did open the doorway to some potentially incredible feats now manifesting through SpaceX and L3Harris.
On the fringes of this technological concept stands startup True Anomaly, a defense and space manufacturing firm based out of Denver, Colorado, that's devising a satellite that can read and surveil other spacecraft. The company calls it an "orbital pursuit" spacecraft, aptly bearing the name Jackal, which can perform so-called rendezvous proximity operations (RPO) that use various sensors and close-up maneuverability systems to gauge a multitude of findings on alternative satellites.
RPO itself has been around for quite some time, dating back as far as the Cold War. Secure World Foundation's more recent discoveries paint an image of long-leveraged space-bound reconnaissance operations under the American flag and used by Russia, China, and, more recently, India. The report also highlights Russia as one of the most knowledgeable countries on space-bound operations, wielding significant understandings in electronic warfare, space situational awareness, directed energy, low earth, middle earth, and geosynchronous orbital flight patterns.
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Enter True Anomaly as it aims to keep space-based worries at a minimum following the projected launch of two of its Jackal spacecraft come October 2023. The launch date comes via a US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) filing highlighting True Anomaly's experimental operation, the firm's first orbital mission codenamed Demo-1. This first launch will see the duo spying on each other from hundreds of meters away after reaching low earth orbit, leveraging onboard multispectral cameras, radar systems, and thrusters to test the viability of the Jackal's RPO procedures.
True Anomaly CEO Even Rogers, a former US Air Force major, shines a spotlight on the firm in a Tweet dated May 31, 2022, highlighting its engineering pathos as a route "to solve the most challenging Orbital Warfare problems." Rogers and several of his cohorts, many of whom were also Space Force and Air Force officers, saw early the potential for keeping space defended, deciding instead to start their own efforts in developing special deterrents outside of the atmosphere.
US Senator JD Vance is seemingly on board, given a hefty sum committed last December via the venture capital fund Narya, which he helped cofound. Despite its youth, having been founded as early as 2022, True Anomaly already took home nearly $23 million in various investments. This cash influx has allowed it to shop for a new 35,000-square-foot factory, wherein Jackal satellites and cloud-based control systems will be devised for future use.
Per its successful RPO mission in October, True Anomaly hopes to employ a swath of autonomous satellites under the US military, all of which can be controlled via human and AI operators. These spacecraft can be used in a multitude of different ways, not just for RPO procedures but alternative space-bound necessities, like satellite repair and failed satellite relocation.
