Defense orders can cover close to 25% market of monthly services, which is actively forming, as the military agencies build up their capabilities in space control and orbital maneuvering. This was announced by Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim, noting, that despite the leadership of NASA's science programs and commercial missions, the national security sector shows a rapid increase in interest in lunar space. Platforms are becoming a priority for the military, capable of long-term observation, convergence and docking operations (RPO), а також координовані маневри супутників у зоні між Землею та Місяцем для захисту критичних ліній зв’язку.
Цей прогноз збігається з публікацією офіційного запиту на інформацію (RFI) from the US Department of the Air Force for the procurement of up to five commercial lunar reconnaissance and tracking spacecraft with a planned launch at the end 2029 year. In response to growing demand, private space contractors are actively scaling up production: in particular, Firefly has accelerated production of the Blue Ghost lunar lander and Elytra orbital transport vehicles, on the basis of which operational defense missions for rapid orbital repositioning were already practiced earlier.
Developers are currently focusing on creating universal dual-purpose platforms, capable of simultaneously providing scientific logistics for NASA and defense tasks for monitoring deep space. Firefly is gearing up to demonstrate deep space orbiting and landing on the far side of the Moon during the upcoming Blue Ghost Mission 2, in parallel offering its high-energy orbital tugs for operational missions of the US Air Force to 2029 year.
Source: https://satnews.com