DARPA announced that it has awarded a one-year, $75 million contract to Orbital Sciences Corporation for the second phase of the System F6 fractionated spacecraft demonstrator program. During this time, Orbital’s industry team will mature its fractionated satellite design up through a critical design review, along with completing development of the majority of its software. The agency intends to conduct an on-orbit demonstration of this fractionated space architecture in 2013 to show the value of operating a cluster of separate, small free-flying spacecraft modules as a much larger “virtual” satellite. This approach could spawn a new design paradigm that moves away from large monolithic satellites. In the process, it could usher in “an era of creativity, adaptability, and economically resilient satellite systems,” said David Neyland, DARPA’s tactical technology office director. (For more on System F6, read Game Changers from the September issue of Air Force Magazine.)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.