# Project 630321 — Space Warfighter Technologist Capabilities

**Program element:** 1206616SF — Space Advanced Technology Development/Demo  
**Project:** 630321  
**Component:** U.S. Space Force  
**Appropriation:** 3620F — RDT&E, Space Force  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206616SF/630321  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206616SF

## Summary

Project 630321 — Space Warfighter Technologist Capabilities requests $20.3M in FY2027, 16% of the $126.4M requested for program element 1206616SF, down 43% on FY2026. 4 R-2A activities decompose the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 35.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 20.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 21.4 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 21.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 22.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 22.5 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1206616SF; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 630321 buys

This Project is a concentrated effort to improve Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) business practices to accelerate moving emerging technologies into the hands of the warfighter. Vanguard efforts draw the operational, acquisitions, and technology communities together into coherent teams to solve the hard Science & Technology (S&T) problems based on Department of the Air Force (DAF) strategic priorities which do not have readily available emerging technology solutions. Teams follow a disciplined process tailorable to accelerate efforts as deemed necessary by the department. This process (known as WARTECH, for WARfighter / TECHnologist) leverages discrete progress gates to deliver S&T efforts organized as Vanguard Pathfinders, Vanguard Prospects, and Vanguards. This construct organizes these multi-disciplinary, capability-focused investments based on characteristics such as effort maturity, established military utility, technical viability and transitionability. Each have built-in off-ramps to promote transition. The process is overseen by an Executive Committee.

## Activities (R-2A) — 4

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload Delivery System | 0.0 | 20.9 | 16.5 | −21% | [a2](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206616SF/630321/a2) |
| Rocket Cargo | 0.0 | 8.6 | 2.4 | −73% | — |
| Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3) | 0.0 | 4.5 | 0.8 | −81% | — |
| Transformational Technology Development | 0.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | −54% | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Payload Delivery System

Complete: - Studies of capsule payload flight environments in the air and space domain, from capsule spacedrop to payload delivery. - Analyses of re-entry communications and plasma black-out. Commence: - Testing to inform a quantitative S&T assessment of a multi-ton prototype capsule reentry aerodynamics, re-entry communications during…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206616SF/630321/a2

### Rocket Cargo

**FY2027 planned work.** Complete: - Airdrop S&T on the payload mid-air system deployment capabilities from an airdropped container or capsule system. - Quantitative S&T assessment of the rocket detectability and vulnerability, anchored with rocket flight data, to determine implications for military missions; incorporate these details into detailed mission analysis and the capability return on investment.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY2027 funding decreased compared to $6.272 million due to completion of multiple tasks. FY2027 efforts will complete the remaining tasks.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue: - Tasks for flight readiness and delivery site Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for a demonstration launch of technologies to transport 30 to 100 tons of cargo to an austere site. - Airdrop S&T on the payload mid-air system deployment capabilities from an airdropped container or capsule system. - Quantitative S&T assessment of the rocket detectability and vulnerability, anchored with rocket flight data, to determine implications for military missions; incorporate these details into detailed mission analysis and the capability return on investment. Complete: - Multi-disciplinary S&T to expand commercial rocket capabilities for DoW global cargo delivery on tactical timelines. - Investigations of rocket landing viability over a broader range of unprepared sites and non-standard landing surfaces relevant to rocket delivery directly to the point of need, including landing pad material surface degradation and human factors at the landing site. - Leveraging of commercial rocket flights to determine rocket cargo environments and performance, specifically to include cargo reentry environments that are unique to rocket delivery of 30 to 100 tons cargo. - Experiments of in-flight communications to the rocket during all phases of flight, including hypersonic reentry. - Development of mission planning and launch operations for tactical cargo delivery timelines.

### Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3)

**FY2027 planned work.** Complete: - Transition of the system for residual use. - Experimental data analysis and composition of final report. Commence and complete: - Follow-on experimentation needed to validate and finalize planned experiments. - Additional experimentation and testing for Modular Open SatNav Architecture.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding decreased compared to FY 2026 by $3.687 million due to completing the majority of final tasks for on-orbit experimentation and operations in FY 2026. Funding in FY 2027 is to finalize and complete any remaining S&T tasks before transitioning to mission partners for residual ops, training, and additional R&D as an augmentation to an operational system.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue: - Transition of the system for residual use. - Experimental data analysis and composition of final report. Complete: - On-orbit experimentation, including multiple simulated operational test events through both receivers in the field and on-orbit transmitted signals. - Experimentation of defined mission objectives.

### Transformational Technology Development

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue: - Spaceflight experiment on multi-agent autonomy and on-orbit refueling capabilities to demonstrate dynamic space operations capabilities and advanced on-board autonomy. - Development of next-generation Space Domain Awareness technologies to augment operators and improve timeliness and throughput. - Development of space data layer technologies and processing techniques to maximize use of new and existing on-orbit assets. Commence: - Activities for an innovative and game-changing weapon concept for countering an emerging and highly critical threat by near peer adversaries. - Activities advancing mission payload capabilities designed for rapid fielding in highly contested environments.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 decreased compared to FY 2026 by $0.760 million due to minor programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue: - Efforts to de-risk the maturation of resilient space architectures, components, and systems. - Continue efforts to increase space-systems autonomy and improve processing and exploitation of space-based data sources. - Spaceflight experiment demonstrating multi-agent satellite operation, on-orbit refueling, and advanced rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking capability-Initiate development of next-generation Space Domain Awareness technologies to augment operators and improve timeliness and throughput. - Development of space data layer technologies and processing techniques to maximize use of new and existing on-orbit assets.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206616SF.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1206616SF project 630321 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1206616SF")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*