Space

Redwire Wins $20M DARPA Contract for Second VLEO Demo

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 05/11/2026, 01:05:24 UTC.

Briefings

Redwire secured a $20M DARPA contract for a second VLEO demo under the Otter program, targeting a late 2027 precursor flight test on a scaled SabreSat spacecraft. This follows a $44M Phase 2 award in November 2025, with the new funding intended to validate atmospheric drag effects on-orbit before scaling up. The mission aims to test air-breathing electric propulsion systems in the 90-250 km altitude range, addressing DoD concerns about low-altitude spaceflight complexity.

Key points

• Redwire received a $20M DARPA contract for a second VLEO demo under the Otter program, with a precursor mission scheduled for late 2027 on a scaled SabreSat spacecraft.
• The $20M contract follows a $44M Phase 2 award in November 2025, with the new funding specifically intended to test atmospheric drag effects on-orbit before scaling up to the full Otter mission.

Context

Redwire secured a $20M DARPA contract for a second VLEO demo under the Otter program, targeting a late 2027 precursor flight test on a scaled SabreSat spacecraft. This follows a $44M Phase 2 award in November 2025, with the new funding specifically intended to test atmospheric drag effects on-orbit before scaling up to the full Otter mission.

Limitations

The source provides no specific launch date for the full-scale mission, only a target of late 2027 for the precursor. It does not specify the exact altitude range for the full mission, only the 90-250 km range for the VLEO phase. The source does not mention any specific city or country where the mission will be conducted, only the US DoD and ESA contexts.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 05/11/2026, 01:06:44 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

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