Sierra Space, a commercial space company and defense-tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth and protect economic freedom in the Orbital Age, announced that it has been awarded a competitive, firm-fixed-price contract for the Rocket Experimentation for Global Agile Logistics (REGAL) program by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). This new contract aims to revolutionize logistics and material returns from space, placing Sierra Space at the forefront of defense and space logistics innovation.

Earlier this year, the company unveiled its Sierra Space Ghost decelerator – a revolutionary logistics spacecraft designed for rapid payload return from Earth orbit – and shared the results of successful beta flight testing. The REGAL contract will support efforts to conceptually design and scale this new breakthrough technology, with the goal of landing critical supplies anywhere on the planet within 90 minutes.

Sierra Space and AFRL want to bridge the gap between current small payload return capabilities and higher tonnage down-mass systems. Over the next 12 months, Sierra Space will conduct an in-depth study to scale the existing 150 kg payload Sierra Space Ghost to accommodate up to 5 or 10 metric tons. This next-gen decelerator system will enable the rapid launch and return of significant material volumes from space, advancing global defense logistics.

“The Sierra Space Ghost unlocks scalable point-to-point logistics, transforming the way high-value materiel is transported to disrupted areas when and where it is needed most,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “This contract represents a significant leap forward in logistics capabilities and allows us to expand the Sierra Space Ghost into a larger form factor, ready for critical defense missions.”

With a five-year on-orbit lifespan, the Sierra Space Ghost is designed to be a pre-staged supply system – or a rapidly launched one – capable of delivering critical materiel to any location on Earth within 90 minutes or less. The spacecraft’s advanced flexible thermal protection system is built to stow compactly during launch and deploy on orbit to shield the payload from the rigors and heat of space re-entry safely returning those payloads to Earth.

This contract award continues to build on Sierra Space’s momentum as a defense industry leader, following its recent $1.3 billion in satellite constellation contracts. The company remains committed to pushing the boundaries of space technology and enabling agile, global logistics to meet the needs of modern defense operations. In September 2022, Sierra Space announced the signing of a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Department of Defense’s Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). The two organizations are working together to develop solutions using Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplanes, Shooting Star cargo modules, and on-orbit infrastructure that provides unique capabilities for precise, cost-effective, and timely global delivery of Department of Defense materiel.

As Sierra Space enters this new era of defense logistics, the REGAL program’s outcomes will shape the future of large-scale materiel delivery and inform the key design parameters needed for the Sierra Space Ghost’s first flight article. Upcoming tests will further refine its capabilities, solidifying its role in national security space operations.

Click here to know more about Sierra Space's Commercial Space Stations