What To Know<\/p>\n
In March 2025, Gravitics announced it had secured up to $60 million in funding from SpaceWERX’s STRATFI (Strategic Funding Increase) program\u2014a joint initiative tapping government, SBIR, and private-sector dollars to accelerate innovation for the Space Force.<\/p>\n
This investment marks an early but significant step toward the demonstration and eventual flight of the orbital carrier, which its designers have billed as a breakthrough concept for truly tactically responsive space operations.<\/p>\n
![\"Gravitics\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gravitics.jpg\")
\nConcept images for a orbital aircraft carrier designed by Gravitics.
\nConcept images for a orbital aircraft carrier designed by Gravitics.
\nGravitics<\/p>\n
“The Orbital Carrier is designed to pre-position multiple maneuverable space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit,” a statement on the agreement said.<\/p>\n
“This carrier will provide the U.S. Space Force with unprecedented flexibility and speed for in-space operations, significantly enhancing the nation’s space defense posture.”<\/p>\n
Concept designs for the carrier show a satellite-style shape that opens in orbit, allowing smaller craft to exit and respond when needed.<\/p>\n
What People Are Saying<\/p>\n
A Space Force spokesperson told Newsweek: “The U.S. Space Force is the preeminent military force dedicated to the space domain. Every day, U.S. Space Force Guardians work to secure our Nation’s interests in, from, and to space, ensuring we maintain control of the domain that is critical to the success of the entire Joint Force.<\/p>\n
“To retain our leadership in space, we are accelerating our transformation as a warfighting service, focused on increasing combat readiness, developing our Guardians and strengthening partnerships with joint, international and commercial partners.”<\/p>\n
Colin Doughan, CEO of Gravitics, said in a statement on the announcement: “We’re honored to partner with the U.S. Space Force on this critical initiative.<\/p>\n
“The Orbital Carrier is a game-changer, acting as a pre-positioned launch pad in space. It bypasses traditional launch constraints, enabling space vehicle operators to rapidly select a deployment orbit on-demand.”<\/p>\n
What Happens Next<\/p>\n
An exact timeline for the carrier, or an exact price, has not yet been laid out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The U.S. Space Force has partnered with a space engineering company to create an “orbital carrier” that can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79,193,11716],"class_list":["post-93891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space","tag-space-force"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}