Orbital Bridge’s participation in the SpaceWERX Orbital Prime program provided an opportunity to work directly with the United States Space Force, explore emerging requirements for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing, and develop new technologies for autonomous orbital operations.
The program resulted in the successful completion of CoVAISAMO, the development of several additional concepts, and two Phase II proposals being judged Selectable, Not Funded. It also gave Orbital Bridge valuable experience working as a direct Department of Defense prime contractor.
Perhaps the most important lesson was the importance of maintaining focus.
Orbital Prime encouraged Orbital Bridge to explore computer vision, artificial intelligence, autonomous navigation, satellite buses, and other technologies related to operating in space. These were worthwhile projects, but they increasingly moved the company away from the larger problem it was originally created to solve.
Orbital Bridge was not founded merely to improve how individual spacecraft operate after reaching orbit. It was founded to make it possible to move the enormous quantities of durable cargo required to build a permanent human presence in space.
Government innovation programs can create valuable opportunities, but companies must be careful not to allow the availability of funding to determine their mission. Orbital Bridge therefore elected to return its primary attention to high-volume launch, standardized cargo, and the infrastructure required to support Humanity in Space, at Scale.
Perhaps one day soon SpaceWERX will create an orbital logistics challenge.
