Outpost, a Los Angeles-based Earth-return startup, has been awarded a $33.2 million STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop its technology for hypersonic testing and reentry missions, the company announced yesterday.
The money will fund four missions of Outpost’s smaller Earth return vehicle, Ferryall, and leave enough funds to support the development of Outpost’s larger vehicle, Carryall, which can carry up to 10 tons of cargo to Earth.
In a nutshell: Outpost introduced Carryall in July to solve a problem that has plagued the space industry for decades: It’s very difficult to bring things home safely from orbit.
Carryall, which is the size of a shipping container, will use a NASA-developed heat shield to re-enter the atmosphere with extremely heavy payloads. At high altitudes, the spacecraft will deploy a robotic paraglider wing that can land the payload anywhere on Earth within a five-meter radius.
Larger image: The contract signals that the military is willing to rethink the way it moves cargo around the globe, including using space for direct delivery and storage of critical logistics assets.
“(The contract) will directly help protect the lives of our military personnel by delivering supplies and payloads through space. With this technology, we are eliminating the need for pilots to fly through dangerous airspace,” CEO Jason Dunn said in a statement.
Several tons, several uses: Yesterday’s announcement is the latest in a series of national security contract wins for Outpost.
- The AFRL Rocket Cargo program awarded Outpost $1.8 million this week to continue developing its return-to-Earth technology.
- This month, the company won a $1.25 million Space GARAGE contract with the Air Force to develop and test Ferryall and Carryall’s ability to store cargo in orbit for extended periods of time before delivering it somewhere on Earth.
What’s next: While these military contracts will help the company build out its technology and pave the way for flight experience, Outpost ultimately intends to have dual use for the two vehicles, enabling both point-to-point delivery for the military and in-orbit testing and in-space manufacturing for commercial customers.
The company also presented its plans to manufacture fiber optic cables in space, which the company says will result in fewer defects than cables manufactured on Earth.
