Dogfighting in space won’t look like the movies, but this company wants in on it

If a battle is fought in space, it will look nothing like those depicted in the Star Wars franchise, with sleek TIE fighters blasting enemy ships with laser cannons and mag-pulses.

“If a battle is fought in space, it will look nothing like those depicted in the Star Wars franchise, with sleek TIE fighters blasting enemy ships with laser cannons and mag-pulses”

Ars Technica

Instead, these battles will be cerebral and unhurried, somewhat like the 1973 film The Day of the Jackal, a slow-burning political thriller with a plot that somehow mixes tension with clinical precision.

Ars Technica

In that film, an assassin sets out to murder the French president.

The main character’s moves are meticulously planned, with backup plans for backup plans.

A police commissioner, just as clever, must pursue the assassin and stop the conspiracy.

The events play out over weeks and months, not seconds and minutes.

True Anomaly, which emerged from stealth just three years ago, is planning for The Day of the Jackal in space.

The startup’s primary hardware product, aptly named Jackal, is a war-ready satellite platform designed for mass production.

In nature, jackals are known for their intelligence, adaptability, and hunting prowess.

True Anomaly’s Jackal boasts similar traits in space.

The Jackal spacecraft is designed for agility and maneuverability.

True Anomaly has launched three Jackal test missions to date, and a fourth one is planned for launch in the next few months.

The spacecraft bus, or chassis, is about the size of a refrigerator.

It’s essentially a flying fuel tank with room for thrusters and sensors to rapidly turn, approach, and surveil other objects in orbit.

Some day, True Anomaly believes Jackal could be used for orbital combat.

Even Rogers, a former Air Force space operations officer, co-founded True Anomaly in 2022.

The company is named for the term in orbital mechanics that defines an object’s location in its orbit at any one particular time.

It has attracted some $400 million in investment, including funding from the venture capital firm cofounded by Vice President JD Vance.

Now, after staffing up to several hundred employees, True Anomaly is primed for a breakout, Rogers told Ars in a recent interview.

The Jackal spacecraft is designed for agility and maneuverability.

True Anomaly has launched three Jackal test missions to date, and a fourth one is planned for launch in the next few months.

Ars Technica

The spacecraft bus, or chassis, is about the size of a refrigerator.

It’s essentially a flying fuel tank with room for thrusters and sensors to rapidly turn, approach, and surveil other objects in orbit.

Some day, True Anomaly believes Jackal could be used for orbital combat.

Even Rogers, a former Air Force space operations officer, co-founded True Anomaly in 2022.

“If a battle is fought in space, it will look nothing like those depicted in the Star Wars franchise, with sleek TIE fighters blasting enemy ships with laser cannons and mag-pulses”

Ars Technica

The company is named for the term in orbital mechanics that defines an object’s location in its orbit at any one particular time.

It has attracted some $400 million in investment, including funding from the venture capital firm cofounded by Vice President JD Vance.

Now, after staffing up to several hundred employees, True Anomaly is primed for a breakout, Rogers told Ars in a recent interview.