Impulse Space has been awarded a US$28 million ($39.1 million) Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract extension by the US Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) to support two additional VICTUS SALO missions.
The contract, awarded through SSC’s Space Safari Office, will fund VICTUS SALO 2 and VICTUS SALO 3 and builds on Impulse’s existing work supporting the initial VICTUS SALO 1 and VICTUS SURGO missions.
Under the new contract, Impulse will provide two Mira spacecraft to carry government-supplied payloads into low-Earth orbit (LEO), demonstrating the growing US focus on tactically responsive space capabilities.
Mira is designed to provide precise on-orbit manoeuvring, with eight Saiph chemical thrusters delivering up to 850 metres per second of delta-v while carrying a 100-kilogram payload. The platform is intended to support responsive missions including payload hosting, deployment and rendezvous, and proximity operations.
Impulse Space president and COO Eric Romo said rapidly manoeuvrable spacecraft were becoming increasingly important as military operations in space become more complex.
“As space operations become increasingly complex, manoeuvrability on orbit is no longer a luxury, but a necessity,” Romo said.
The VICTUS SALO missions form part of the US military’s broader Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) effort, which seeks to demonstrate the ability to rapidly deploy and reposition space capabilities in response to changing operational requirements.
The initial VICTUS SALO 1 mission is currently scheduled for launch in 2027, with SALO 2 and SALO 3 to follow.
The program reflects a broader shift in military space operations away from static satellites towards more mobile and responsive spacecraft capable of changing position, supporting new missions, or responding to events in orbit.
Impulse’s growing relationship with Space Systems Command also highlights the company’s increasing role in US national-security space. The company was previously awarded a US$34.5 million ($48.1 million) contract supporting VICTUS SURGO and SALO, while its Helios upper-stage vehicle has also been selected for the National Security Space Launch program.
For Impulse, the latest award provides further flight opportunities for its Mira spacecraft while strengthening its position as a commercial provider of responsive in-space mobility for military and government customers.
For the US Space Force, the missions offer an opportunity to develop the tactics, technologies, and operational experience required to make space assets faster, more flexible, and increasingly responsive to events in an increasingly contested orbital environment.
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