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US military-backed cargo pod promises 90-minute orbital delivery anywhere on Earth, 10-ton Ghost vehicle gets first real-world test — Sierra Space drops radio and whiskey from 68,500 feet to test StarCraft-like supply drops The U.S. military is planning to drop supplies from space. A U.S. military-backed company plans to deliver a payload to any point on Earth within 90 minutes by prepositioning assets in space and then calling down delivery vehicles as needed. Sierra Space, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, has successfully completed two test drops of its Ghost reentry vehicle while carrying a bottle of whiskey and a software-defined radio. According to Aviation Week, the test was conducted using high-altitude balloons that dropped it from 35,000 feet and 68,500 feet. While this test isn’t as exciting as SpaceX rockets landing on a platform at sea, it’s still an achievement for the team working on the project, as it’s the first test of the vehicle in two years. This demonstration is part of the U.S. Space Command’s Apollo Nexus training exercise, which aims to demonstrate the needed synchronization of multiple units in complex operations. The test’s payload isn’t just two random items, either. They’ve been specifically selected to show that liquids and sensitive electronics could survive part of the trip back to the surface. “We were able to safely demonstrate that and prove that we could come through all of those environments and then be recoverable in a certain period of time by the team on the ground,” Sierra Space senior vice president Erik Daehler told the publication. It should be noted that these cargo units aren’t designed to be launched by rockets from another side of the world to be delivered to frontline forces as needed. Instead, they’re designed to stay in orbit for up to five years and then be called down to troops as needed — similar to how Orbital Depots drop down from the sky when called by an SCV in StarCraft II. “Getting something into theater to the warfighter when they need it is critical,” Daehler added. “If you’re in a denied area where you couldn’t get a C-17 or a C-130 to be able to drop into the theater, space is a perfect logistics node.” The company says that Ghost can deliver its payload to any point on Earth within 90 minutes of getting called down. However, since it is based in space, the military would have to anticipate what supplies are needed, launch them, and keep them in orbit for up to five years. This is similar to how the U.S. pre-positions supply and cargo ships in remote bases across the world like Guam and Diego Garcia, so it could easily deploy materiel where it’s needed. The Ghost is a seemingly small unit, though, with a capacity of just five to ten tons, so it won’t be able to deploy tanks or artillery pieces across the world. Still, it’s a useful device for dropping equipment, ammunition, and supplies, like this in-house assembled drone or microwave counter-drone system, to units that need them without having to risk assets and aircrew. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. - ITSysEng There goes another 6 trillion of our tax dollars in to a bunch of filthy rich worthless hacks' pockets for something that will never work or see the light of day in real use.Reply - smoolz Why_Me said:This will go nowhere imo. It's useless.Yeah it feels like they're currently ignoring the fact that it will cost about a billion dollars to get a few radios into space, let alone enough to have a useful amount on standby. Reply - jasonf2 Why_Me said:This will go nowhere imo. It's useless.Expensive - Yes. Useless not so much. While I highly doubt you are going to see these things send care packages to deployed GIs the ability to rapidly deploy 5-10 tons worth of equipment to any point in a hotzone (without an airplane) has definite possibilities. Modern warfare has become more about special forces incursion and less about mass troupe movements. The ability to send a care package to a 12 man ODA deep in country without logistics support on a 1.5 hour notice (probably less with operational focus) giving medical supplies, water, ammo and potential extraction equipment makes sense. Especially as the lift cost falls for orbital deployment in the next decade. Reply - drivinfast247 We can use this to drop tons of cash onto our enem.....allies....er enem...I mean alliesReply - Tiz.io For when you are *really* hungry for pizza and beer but you're outside the Door Dash delivery continent.Reply - SketicTom This is amazing work by the US government - will the US government be able to get food to US navy personnel? Or is that asking too much of the US government? 🤣Reply - d0x360 jasonf2 said:Expensive - Yes. Useless not so much. While I highly doubt you are going to see these things send care packages to deployed GIs the ability to rapidly deploy 5-10 tons worth of equipment to any point in a hotzone (without an airplane) has definite possibilities. Modern warfare has become more about special forces incursion and less about mass troupe movements. The ability to send a care package to a 12 man ODA deep in country without logistics support on a 1.5 hour notice (probably less with operational focus) giving medical supplies, water, ammo and potential extraction equipment makes sense. Especially as the lift cost falls for orbital deployment in the next decade.Yeah this has a lot of use cases and this is just the first test version. It will only get better. Self for everybody who's all down on them spending money for development this thing can be used to deliver aid immediately to places that need it. They also had to pay people a salary to develop this.. that's.. a good thing for the economy. Our main export is technology and that's what this is. So should we just stop being at the forefront of technology? Just like the economy completely crumbled away because you don't want them to spend money?C ome on think people.. y'all sound like you're stuck on that hole. I have to hate the billionaires deal. Fundamental misunderstanding of how the economy works this very prevalent these days. It's unfortunate. This isn't a pro Republican post either it's got nothing to do with that. Everybody's gotten so pessimistic.. flip it. be optimistic because everything really is going to work out. Everything feels tight right now because we're trying to prevent future world war (2035) So a little pain today so we all survive tomorrow. That's what's going on literally. Reply - palladin9479 COLGeek said:Dumber than a box of rocks. Zero utility here.Hmm I suspect this has nothing to do with "supplies" in space and instead they are developing a tactical reentry vehicle. ICBM like launcher that drops a bunch of these vehicles into an area under very short notice. It's outrageously expensive, but SOC spends outrageous money on mission specific capabilities all the time. Reply
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