WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded space engineering and manufacturing firm Optimum Technologies (OpTech) a $4.5 million contract to develop an optical imaging payload for a mission scheduled to fly in 2026 on an Impulse Space vehicle.
The mission known as Victus Surgo is part of the Space Force’s Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) program, an initiative aimed at leveraging commercial technologies to respond to potential threats in orbit. A core objective of the program is to deploy a sensor payload to inspect and characterize threats like anti-satellite weapons, reflecting growing concerns over adversarial actions in geosynchronous orbit, a critical zone for military and commercial satellites.
This will be the first flight of Impulse Spaceâ€s Helios transfer vehicle that will transport a smaller Mira vehicle carrying the OpTech payload from low Earth orbit to geostationary transfer orbit. The Helios vehicle will fly to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Impulse Space received a $34.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Forceâ€s Space Safari office and the Defense Innovation Unit for Victus Surgo and another TacRS mission. The Helios vehicle is a kick stage designed to transport payloads from low to geostationary orbit in under 24 hours. A kick stage is a small upper stage rocket component that provides additional propulsion to a payload after it has been released from the main rocket.
The imaging payload contract is a Small Business Innovation Research agreement. It includes a telescope, high-resolution camera, advanced processing electronics and proprietary software. The equipment will be produced at OpTechâ€s newly expanded manufacturing facility in Sterling, Virginia.
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