Meet the team building high-thrust orbital vehicles to transform satellite defense and logistics.
As our world grows more dependent on space-based infrastructure for defense, intelligence, communications, science, and commerce, the criticality — and vulnerability — of orbital assets has never been more pronounced. The US Department of Defense, NASA, commercial operators, and our allies around the globe all face growing threats from bad actors…and current orbital transfer vehicles are far too slow and lack the mobility required to respond quickly in orbit. In a future conflict scenario, U.S. response times to orbital threats could lag by weeks or months. This isn’t just a theoretical threat, it’s an urgent national security gap.
What’s more, transferring a satellite from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit takes five months using existing platforms. That’s why when we met Ben Schleuniger and Ross Doherty, the co-founders of Orbital Operations, we immediately knew they were working on something transformational and vital.
They’re building Astraeus: a cryogenic, high-thrust spacecraft capable of performing in-orbit maneuvers at unprecedented speed. Using technologies once reserved for launch vehicles, Astraeus will bring 100x the thrust of today’s options to hard vacuum. Astraeus will fundamentally drive a shift from “slow drift” to real-time mobility, enabling defense, logistics, and commercial missions that were previously impossible.
Defense, Mobility, and a New Space Economy
The U.S. Space Force and other national security entities are all calling for one thing: rapid maneuverability in orbit. The strategic importance of being able to reposition, intercept, and protect orbital assets has reached a tipping point.
The threat is real. In 2007, the PRC demonstrated an anti-satellite missile attack that left thousands of dangerous debris pieces still circling the Earth. In 2021, they demonstrated grappling capabilities in GEO. These are not isolated events — they’re milestones in a growing arms race. The U.S. and our allies lack the in-orbit capabilities needed for rapid response. Advancing these capabilities is critical to reinforcing deterrence.
Orbital Operations isn’t just ahead of the curve, they’re redefining it. Unlike current spacecraft comparatively hobbled by slow, low-thrust electric propulsion, Astraeus is powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, using a newly validated zero-boil-off cryogenic storage system. That allows for launch-vehicle-class performance, but in orbit and over long durations.
Ben and Ross are the right cofounders to execute on this critical and technically complex mission. They’re veteran engineers with propulsion and manufacturing experience at Relativity Space, Blue Origin, and Aerojet Rocketdyne. They’ve proven their ability to not just design but to build, test, and scale high-performance engines. Now, they’re combining that experience into a system that can protect satellites, transfer payloads between orbits, and eventually enable space resupply and servicing missions.
We’re excited to support and work alongside them as they grow Orbital Operations and keep our national and commercial space infrastructure safe and free by providing maneuver without regret or delay.
Check them out!
