SpaceWERX graphic of its sustained space maneuver challenge. Photo: SpaceWERX

SpaceWERX awarded 10 companies contract awards in the Sustained Space Maneuver Challenge to advance space mobility and resilience technologies. 

The 10 companies selected — Apech Labs, BlackStar Orbital Technologies, CisLunar Industries USA, Dark Fission Space Systems, Flight Works, Katalyst Space Technologies, Momentus Space, Plasma Controls, Rhea Space Activity, and Xtenti — each receive a Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract worth $1.9 million. 

The companies are tasked with developing prototypes that demonstrate “sustained maneuverability and resilience in space,” in order to support reliability, responsiveness and mission assurance of U.S. space systems. 

The challenge has five focus areas: sustained maneuvering; space domain awareness; rendezvous and zero-proximity operations; on-orbit servicing; payloads, and refueling. 

The challenge is sponsored by U.S. Space Command J8 and it is the first SpaceWERX Challenge sponsored by a combatant command. Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space will serve as the program office. The contract period is 15 months. 

“Winning in space demands that we outmaneuver our adversaries. To that end, SpaceWERX, U.S. Space Command J8 and Space Systems Command are partnered to unleash commercial innovation on Sustained Space Maneuver,” said Arthur Grijalva, SpaceWERX director. “This effort focuses American ingenuity on forging superior, cost-effective maneuver capabilities that will equip the U.S. Space Force to seize and dominate the initiative.”