Anduril is accelerating the launch of defensive payloads by purchasing ready-made Apex satellite buses

On the sensor expands even further to the “top level”.

The company, best known for its AI-powered defense products in the air, on land and at sea, is partnering with a satellite bus startup Apical space for the rapid deployment of payloads into orbit for the US Department of Defense.

This is a rare case where an emerging defense contractor decides to partner with a supplier somewhat than construct the product itself or just acquire the supplier outright. But this partnership is smart: Anduril attributes much of its success to its approach to product design and development, which emphasizes rapidly developing large numbers of products using off-the-shelf components to cut back costs. Apex does something similar by producing satellite buses, the part of the spacecraft that holds the payload. In the past, they were subject to individual engineering processes, long lead times and high prices.

“We’re really focused on recreating the same things we’ve done in other areas, in the space domain,” Gokul Subramanian, Anduril’s vp of space and software, said at a press conference. “If you concentrate on what Anduril has done successfully in sea, air and ground transportation, there is a shift from the low-volume, high-cost systems which have traditionally been used to high-volume, low-cost systems. We have the same belief in space – that to achieve success in space, we want to maneuver to high-volume, low-cost production.”

Ian Cinnamon, co-founder and CEO of Apex Space, said the satellite bus is the “biggest bottleneck” in the space ecosystem, stopping America from putting more mass into orbit. Their goal is to deliver satellite buses to customers in weeks, not years, with more transparent pricing and a standardized product.

The Anduril-built payload flew in March on the first-ever Apex mission, which Subramanian called a “mission data processor” that allows on-orbit processing of images captured from the satellite. This payload leverages Lattice, the command and control process implemented in all Anduril products. In summary, Anduril was in a position to reveal the ability to point a spacecraft to a particular location, take an image of what the spacecraft saw, process that image, and transmit the data to Earth – all completely autonomously.

“It was the first experiment that gave us confidence in our vision for space, our collaboration with Ian and the bus platform they built,” he said.

Anduril has already purchased a dedicated satellite bus from Apex, which can be launched next yr. Anduril will operate this method, which can carry payloads built in-house and by others. This can be the model of the future, the pair of executives explained: Apex will provide the buses, Anduril will “mission the system,” Subramanian said.

Subramanian declined to comment on the specific opportunities the company hopes to pursue with the latest partnership, however it leaves the company in a great position to tackle a main contractor role on some coveted contracts. For example, the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture program is deploying masses of satellites to enhance the Space Force’s aging missile tracking and defense architecture. SDA spends huge amounts of money on these satellites; So far, contracts for the construction of satellites under the program have been awarded to, amongst others: Sierra Space, Rocket Lab, SpaceX. Anduril undoubtedly hopes to affix the club.

This is not Anduril’s first foray into space: in July 2023, the company won a $10.50 contract from Space Systems Command to include Lattice into Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensors, used for early warning of missiles. Last week, the company was also awarded a $25.3 million contract from the Space Force to offer additional ANN upgrades.

This is the first of many partnerships Anduril intends to announce, including with other bus providers, Subramanian added.