Exclusive: DoD Taps Orbital Operations for Cryogenic Spacecraft Demo

Astraeus’s Pentagon Demo Tests the Payload Cost of Spacecraft Reuse

Long Beach, October 24, 2026, 06:12 (PDT) Orbital Operations has won a Pentagon award worth up to $35 million to demonstrate its Astraeus cryogenic spacecraft in orbit. The company confirmed the award in an announcement. Payload reported on October 23 that the prototype agreement funds a full-scale flight demonstration. The company's published mission figures reveal…

Exclusive: DoD Taps Orbital Operations for Cryogenic Spacecraft Demo

The Long Beach, CA, startup has won up to $35M from the DoD under a prototype Other Transaction Agreement to fly a full-scale, in-orbit demo of Astraeus—its cryogenic-maneuvering vehicle.