4.3.25

Jackal for Geosynchronous Orbit and Cislunar Space

  • True Anomaly has announced its Jackal spacecraft for GEO and Cislunar space.  
  • Our first GEO and Cislunar missions will launch in 2026.  
  • Jackal is built upon a common platform and designed for all orbits and mission types. Its agility, maneuverability, and payload capacity enable maximum flexibility and cost-efficient deployment at scale.  

At True Anomaly, we believe that modern, flexible, and scalable spacecraft are essential to counter rapidly evolving threats in space. Near-peer adversaries are rapidly fielding advanced space assets to compete in all orbits against the current U.S. arsenal. Our mission is to build advanced, autonomous space systems to enable a secure, stable, and sustainable space environment for the U.S., its allies, and partners for generations to come.

 

Mission Drives Design

As in every other domain, conflict imposes hard requirements that generic platforms can’t meet. Space superiority demands a new class of spacecraft—purpose-built for maneuver, survivability, and control of the orbital battlespace.  

From day one, we designed Jackal—our autonomous orbital vehicle (AOV)—as a multi-role spacecraft with a modular architecture that delivers cost-effective, scalable performance and maximum operational flexibility. We weren’t building just another satellite. We set out to define an entirely new category of spacecraft—one that sets the performance benchmark for space superiority.

Today, we are announcing Jackal for operations in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and Cislunar space, and are proud to announce our first missions to GEO and Cislunar in 2026. We are built to scale and ready to deliver mission solutions to our customers.  

Jackal’s Capabilities

All Jackals in LEO and beyond feature:  

  • High-Maneuverability Propulsion Stack
    • High-performance 20-thruster configuration and a large propellant tank in an ESPA-Grande form factor—designed for precision high cadence, high-thrust, and high delta-v maneuvering.
    • Delta-v (payload dependent): Baseline: up to 800 m/s | GEO & Cislunar: up to 1,000 m/s  
    • Acceleration (payload dependent): Baseline: up to 9 cm/s² | GEO & Cislunar: up to 8 cm/s²
  • Integrated, Multi-Spectral RPO Suite  
    • Powered by Mosaic for advanced, autonomous long-range detection and tracking through close-range imaging, processing, and dissemination of objects in all lighting conditions
    • Jackals can support any sensing phenomenology the mission requires.  
  • Mission Hardpoints
    • Multiple mission stations to host an unprecedented range of sensors and other payloads—enabling custom, multi-role configurations for a wide range of missions.
    • Payload: Baseline: up to 50 kg & 200 W | GEO & Cislunar: up to 200 kg & 1,000 W
  • High-Rate Manufacturability
    • Rapid production and constellation refresh rates that ensure resilience, responsiveness, and tactical overmatch at scalable price points.

For missions in GEO, Jackal builds on the baseline platform with enhanced resilience and precision, featuring:  

  • Structural Shielding
    • Improved radiation protection and thermal control for deep-space orbital environments.
  • Radiation-Hardened Electronics
    • Critical system redundancy for mission continuity and reliability in higher-radiation orbits.
  • System Redundancy in a Small Package
    • Increased critical function survivability and mission assurance in deep space.
  • Up-Rated Modular Mission Hardpoints
    • Support for payloads up to 200 kg—enabling heavier sensors, larger effectors, or deep-space mission packages.
  • Upgraded Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) system
    • High-accuracy positioning, real-time navigation data, and mission-critical timing reliability.

For missions in Cislunar space, Jackal expands on its GEO capabilities with enhanced range, resilience, and autonomy, featuring:

  • Deep-Space Communications Systems  
    • High-bandwidth, attitude-independent data transfer—enabling reliable uplink and downlink across lunar transfer orbits, Lagrange Points, and beyond.  
  • Expanded Power Generation and Storage Capacity   
    • Enable larger, more energy-intensive mission packages and extended-duration operations.    
  • Improved PNT Capabilities
    • Tuned for the unique challenges of the Cislunar environment, where distance from Earth and degraded access to terrestrial signals demand advanced autonomy and onboard precision.
  • Advanced Thermal Management   
    • Engineered to withstand extreme temperature deltas across varied Cislunar orbital regimes, including prolonged lunar eclipse conditions.  

Why GEO?

GEO is a critical orbit for the future of space superiority. Its extensive utility for global communications and observation make GEO a unique and highly valuable environment for national security.  

To maintain leadership in GEO, the US and its allies must have both a permanent presence and rapid access capabilities, and we see a critical need for better technologies to enable advanced operations in this domain.

Jackal is designed to deliver exactly that.  

Why Cislunar?

As global lunar activities increase, threats in Cislunar orbits will quickly follow. No future lunar economy can exist without a robust lunar satellite infrastructure, and by investing in Cislunar today, we are developing scalable, cost-effective solutions that will help safeguard lunar operations and defense capabilities well into the future.

In addition, the low-gravitational Cislunar orbit environment offers a wide range of defense applications – applications our adversaries are already exploiting. These orbits are extremely challenging, requiring spacecraft with a wide maneuverability envelope and a large payload capacity. Jackal’s abilities to meet these demands, plus its cost efficiency and scalability, make it an incredibly potent asset for Cislunar operations.

Why now?  

Our adversaries have demonstrated a capability and willingness to contest every orbit. The U.S. and its allies require a new generation of spacecraft purpose-built for space superiority to contend with current and future threats across all orbital domains.

Jackal was designed and built from day one to meet the threat in any orbit. Its common platform architecture allows for rapid scalability and the flexibility to meet any threat across contested environments. Additionally, Jackal’s software backbone, Mosaic, allows for rapid upgradability and the ability to update on-orbit fleets with new capabilities via over-the-air (OTA) software updates. For True Anomaly, this hardware commonality and software-centric approach boost manufacturability, reduces unique part count, and allows iterative product improvements that benefit the entire Jackal lineup. For our customers, it means delivering a final product that is highly cost-effective with exceptional system performance.

As threats and operational requirements continue to evolve, Jackal’s balance of performance, flexibility and adaptability will enable our customers to adapt as fast as the mission needs change.

True Anomaly was founded to enable a secure, stable, and sustainable space environment for the U.S., its allies, and partners. We are actively designing, engineering, and building solutions to change the trajectory of space defense, enabling our customers to take on any mission, in any orbit, at any time.

More information about Jackal can be found at https://www.trueanomaly.space/jackal

To learn more about True Anomaly, visit our website at https://www.trueanomaly.space/