Air Force Research Lab eyes space data transport demo in 2026 | Space

DAYTON, Ohio — An Air Force Research Laboratory team convened to help the Space Force test and prototype new spacecraft concepts plans to launch its first experimental satellites as soon as 2026.

AFRL created the Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integrated Development, or RAPID, lab in 2022 to partner with the Space Force’s various architecture and system design organizations to wring out ideas for future on-orbit capabilities.

Andy Williams, AFRL’s deputy technology officer for space, said the group is making progress on its first task: helping the Space Warfighting Analysis Center, SWAC for short, determine whether its plans for a future network of data transport satellites are feasible.

SWAC, which for the last three years has been conducting mission-by-mission analyses and designs aimed at defining the service’s future force, completed its plan last year for a space data transport architecture. That plan calls for a hybrid communications network — essentially a space-based internet comprised of commercial and military satellites.

With SWAC’s initial work completed, the RAPID lab’s role is to take a re-look at the strategy, identify any challenges and craft a plan to test and validate the architecture through experimentation on the ground and in space.

Williams told a small group of reporters during a July 31 interview that challenges include sharing…