The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, responsible for creating breakthrough technologies for national security. While not a space agency, DARPA initiates and manages high-risk, high-payoff projects relevant to space, including satellite constellations, space-based surveillance tech, lunar habitats, and advanced propulsion systems like nuclear thermal rockets. DARPA partners with various organizations, including NASA, U.S. Space Force, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and BAE Systems, to achieve its goals. Keywords associated with DARPA's space activities include space superiority, space-based weaponry, advanced materials, and autonomous systems.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
DARPA encountered infrastructure barriers for ground testing DRACO's nuclear thermal propulsion technology.
The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project was announced as a NASA–DARPA partnership in January 2023 at the AIAA SciTech Forum.
SpaceLogistics is using the NRL-developed robotic arms for the MRV under a partnership with DARPA.
DARPA awarded BAE Systems’ FAST Labs a $4,000,000 contract for Phase 1 of the Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program.
A 2021 test conducted with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency used different optical terminals that did not comply with the current SDA standard.
DARPA’s AIR program will improve government-provided baseline models’ speed and predictive performance to better match Department of Defense systems’ real-world performance.
DARPA awarded Lockheed Martin a $4,600,000 contract to develop AI tools for dynamic airborne missions under the Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program.
ExoTerra’s Halo Hall-effect thrusters fired in orbit for the first time in 2023 on DARPA Blackjack Aces satellites manufactured by RTX subsidiary Blue Canyon Technologies.
Redwire has a contract dated 2024-06-17 to serve as prime mission integrator for a DARPA satellite with a novel propulsion system for very low Earth orbit (VLEO).
As the prime contractor for the DARPA Otter program, Redwire will build the SabreSat bus and develop and integrate mission-related technologies.
Amentum has a proven track record of research and development, systems engineering, and test support for multiple US Defense agencies, including DARPA, the Air Force, Navy, and Army.
Redwire received a DARPA contract to serve as the prime mission integrator for the Otter program to develop an air-breathing satellite that demonstrates novel electric propulsion in very low Earth orbit (VLEO).
Electric Propulsion Laboratory Inc. has a DARPA Otter contract with a maximum value of $6,700,000 to further development of its Air Breathing ELectric (ABEL) engines.
Phase Four has a $14,900,000 DARPA Otter contract for an air-breathing electric propulsion system for extended satellite operations at altitudes ranging from 90 to 450 km.
GITAI has been awarded the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) capability study contract by DARPA.
Slingshot Aerospace partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create Agatha, an AI-enabled system for identifying potentially harmful space vehicles within large satellite constellations.
Slingshot Aerospace won a DARPA contract of undisclosed value after submitting a white paper in response to a Broad Agency Announcement.
Agatha was developed under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract.
The aircraft is being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program called Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT).
Aurora’s concept is designed to meet or exceed DARPA's challenging program objectives.