Space Force Taps Startups for Orbital 'Top Gun' Missions

The US Space Force just handed the keys to orbital combat training to two private space companies. True Anomaly and Rocket Lab are now flying Top Gun-style proximity operations around military satellites, marking a shift in how America's newest military branch conducts space operations. It's a validation of the defense tech startup model and signals billions in future contracts as the Pentagon outsources increasingly sensitive missions to commercial operators.

True Anomaly and Rocket Lab are performing what sources describe as Top Gun-style maneuvers in orbit for the US Space Force, according to reports from TechCrunch. The contracts mark a turning point in military space operations, where startups are now executing missions that would've been unthinkable to outsource just five years ago.

The satellite fly-bys mirror the close-quarters aerial combat training that fighter pilots practice, except these maneuvers happen at 17,000 miles per hour in the vacuum of space. True Anomaly, founded just three years ago, has built autonomous spacecraft specifically designed for what the industry calls rendezvous and proximity operations, or RPO. It's the space equivalent of tailing an adversary's satellite to understand its capabilities without actually touching it.

Rocket Lab's involvement suggests the Space Force is hedging its bets across multiple providers. The New Zealand-founded company, which went public via SPAC in 2021, has been aggressively pivoting from pure launch services into satellite manufacturing and space systems. Adding military proximity operations to its portfolio puts Rocket Lab in direct competition with legacy defense primes like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

The timing isn't coincidental. China and Russia have been demonstrating their own orbital maneuvering capabilities for years, sparking concerns about anti-satellite weapons and space-based surveillance. The Space Force needs rapid response capabilities that traditional procurement timelines can't deliver. Enter the startups.

True Anomaly raised $100 million in Series B funding earlier this year, led by Riot Ventures with participation from Eclipse and ACME Capital. The company's pitch has always centered on autonomous space security, and these Space Force contracts validate that thesis in the most tangible way possible. Investors are betting the Pentagon will spend billions building out America's orbital defense infrastructure over the next decade.