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    Gravitics wins Space Force funding of up to $60 million to provide an “aircraft carrier” in orbit, the Orbital Carrier is designed to pre-position multiple space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit
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    Gravitics wins Space Force funding of up to $60 million to provide an “aircraft carrier” in orbit, the Orbital Carrier is designed to pre-position multiple space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit


    Gravitics wins Space Force funding of up to $60 million to provide an “aircraft carrier” in orbit, the Orbital Carrier is designed to pre-position multiple space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit

    https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/firm-wins-space-force-funding-to-provide-an-aircraft-carrier-in-orbit/

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    9 Comments

    1. Ruadhan2300 on

      I’m curious what the advantage of a single central “carrier” is vs simply scatter-deploying the vehicles into a variety of orbits like a more complex Starlink constellation.

      I suppose it gives them a single place to provide routine orbital boosts from, but it seems like it’d be less convenient otherwise.

    2. olivthefrench on

      Ah yes, $60M to put a carrier in orbit, a famously easier and cheaper endeavor than regular sea-borne carriers. This surely will not go overbudget

    3. umassmza on

      Is what universe is this enough money! What are they developing a concept of a plan to provide this?

    6. Comet_Empire on

      “The Space Force would prefer to keep the vehicle’s operational capabilities under wraps”. Good luck with that in this admin.

    7. t_0xic on

      What if the carrier is on one side of the planet and a threat on the other? Wouldn’t the DeltaV requirements be astronomically high?

      Edit; I’ve been reminded about the obvious. 😀

    9. Styx_Zidinya on

      $60 million for a spade aircraft carrier?

      For that much, the best I can do is Cessna on top of a Schooner moored to the ISS.