Scout Space, a Virginia-based startup specializing in space domain awareness, has signed an agreement with Dawn Aerospace to demonstrate the ability to observe objects in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) from an aircraft operating in suborbital space.  Under the deal announced Aug. 22, Scout will install its space domain awareness sensors aboard Dawn Aerospace’s Mk-II Aurora uncrewed suborbital spaceplane for a test flight targeted for November at the Tawhaki National Aerospace Centre near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Dawn Aerospace, which has operations in the Netherlands and the United States in addition to New Zealand, developed the Mk-II Aurora as a reusable spaceplane that takes off and lands horizontally like a conventional aircraft, eliminating the need for dedicated launch pads. The Mk-II Aurora during its test campaign is expected to fly at supersonic speeds at altitudes of up to 80,000 feet, and its goal is to fly to 100 kilometers  to reach the Kármán line, the boundary of space.

Scout’s agreement with Dawn covers several test flights that would serve as demonstrations for Scout’s Sparrow sensors, which will look upward into the VLEO region from the Mk-II Aurora. VLEO is located approximately 100 to 450 kilometers above the Earth’s surface

“This would be a first-of-its-kind tactically responsive VLEO space domain awareness capability,” Scout’s CEO Philip Hover-Smoot.

Dawn Aerospace CEO Stefan Powell said, "The combination of a suborbital spaceplane and space domain awareness sensors provides a level of effectiveness and resilience that surpasses what can be achieved by a satellite."

"If the demonstrations are successful, Scout intends to market the technology to the U.S. government as a low-cost option for intelligence-gathering missions that need to be done quickly," Hover-Smoot said.

The U.S. Space Force uses the X-37B spaceplane for space domain awareness experiments and has started a “responsive space” program to use commercial rockets to deploy surveillance payloads on short notice. But the concept using a commercial aircraft like Dawn’s “is a completely different reconfiguration of how we think about observing very low Earth orbit,” Hover-Smoot said.

Scout will integrate its Sparrow sensors into the Mk-II Aurora’s fuselage. The instruments will be housed in an open payload bay with an optical window, enabling them to observe VLEO from lower altitudes. Based on studies and simulations, he said, Scout believes objects in VLEO can be observed from lower altitudes with better fidelity than from satellites in higher orbits.

If the experiment succeeds, Scout will work with Dawn to pursue market opportunities. The first priority will be to overcome the technical hurdles of integrating a space sensor onto a reusable spaceplane, Hover-Smoot said. “The economics are phenomenal,” he added. “But we want to go prove that it’s viable before we go try to sell it.”

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