26.09.2025

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland–Future U.S. Space Force program solicitations may include one or two extra spacecraft to serve as on-orbit testbeds or aggressor trainers, as unit prices for satellites shrink and the service looks to build out a more comprehensive training environment.

Space programs of yore involved small numbers of bespoke–and thus expensive–satellites, and every platform was bought for the mission. But now, U.S. military offices like the Space Development Agency (SDA) are procuring hundreds of satellites for tens of millions of dollars, as mass-produced buses regularly come off of manufacturing lines, and can be launched more frequently to orbit.

Senior service officials say it now makes more financial sense to consider adding a couple of additional platforms to the service’s spacecraft orders, similar to how the U.S. Air Force buys test aircraft for its fighters and bombers.

As the Space Force flies satellites in every orbital regime, “some of those satellites should be test and training articles, just like in the air environment,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told reporters Sept. 23 at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference here. “When you buy F-35s, some of the F 35s you buy are for test and training.”

The Space Force would use those spacecraft as live training assets, as it builds a vast environment known as the Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) that would include high-fidelity simulators, digital ranges, and on-orbit testing structures to help the U.S. military prepare for conflicts in space. While the service is currently focused on building out the digital elements of OTTI, “we do want to go to a live aggressor force,” Saltzman said.

As the Space Force procures hundreds of satellites across a range of proliferated constellations, it is considering how to incorporate a couple of extra units into those fleet. “Now, we can talk about, hey, I can pull one of these out and do test and training,” Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisitions and Integration Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said Sept. 24 at the conference.

That plan, for now, remains aspirational, he noted. “That’s still a goal that we’re trying to march our way to. TBD on exactly how and if that will land.”

Quelle: AVIATION WEEK