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.
Blue Canyon Technologies won a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract in 2018 to supply buses for the Blackjack technology demonstration in low Earth orbit.
The DARPA Blackjack contract with Blue Canyon Technologies included options to supply up to 20 buses.
DARPA will conduct an initial round of evaluation on proposals received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on 2023-10-01.
Two CACI optical terminals exchanged data in orbit as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Mandrake experiment in 2022.
DARPA used CACI terminals on four Blackjack satellites that it recently launched to low Earth orbit.
Debra Facktor served as President and owner of AirLaunch LLC, which received DARPA funding for a small launch vehicle development project.
General Atomics was competitively awarded a contract in 2020 to develop DARPA’s LongShot concept for disruptive air combat operations.
Niki Werkheiser, director of technology maturation in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, is working directly with DARPA on planning for LunA-10 and providing NASA expertise in relevant technologies.
DARPA is soliciting three-page abstracts for LunA-10 that are due 2023-09-06.
DARPA plans to select a group of developers and users to work together on new integrated system-level lunar solutions that span multiple services and be commercially available by 2035.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency launched the 10-Year Lunar Architecture project, called LunA-10, on 2023-08-15.
DARPA plans to select participants for the LunA-10 study at the fall meeting of the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium scheduled for 2023-10-10–11 in Pittsburgh.
DARPA plans to present an 80% product of the LunA-10 study at the April 2024 LSIC meeting.
NASA and DARPA selected Lockheed Martin to develop a spacecraft to demonstrate nuclear thermal propulsion technologies.
Lockheed Martin won a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop and demonstrate a nuclear-powered spacecraft under the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project.
NASA and DARPA are evenly splitting the $499 million cost of the DRACO program.
Lockheed Martin won a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop and demonstrate a nuclear-powered spacecraft under the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project.
Lockheed Martin has won a DARPA contract to develop and demonstrate a nuclear-powered spacecraft under the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project.
NASA and DARPA selected Lockheed Martin to develop a spacecraft for the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program on 2024-07-26.
The DARPA ASSERT program focuses on hardening space-based microelectronics against damage from single-event effects like solar flares.