Blue Origin landed a $11.7M modification to its existing contract with AFRL to study how its launch technologies can be used to complete point-to-point cargo delivery missions for the DoD—bringing the total contract value to ~$13M.
The contract is part of the DoD’s expanding efforts to use space for military logistics, which includes both rocket-based cargo resupply efforts—through the Rocket Experimentation for Global Agile Logistics (REGAL) program—as well as efforts to explore storing cargo on orbit for fast reentry-based supply missions.
Send it: The REGAL program was established in 2021 as one of four “Vanguard” technology programs highlighted by AFRL as necessary for the next-generation of warfare. REGAL is intended to give the US military new capabilities for resupplying troops anywhere in the world in under an hour.
The current resupply method—sending critical supplies via a C-17 cargo aircraft—takes hours, and forces US aircrews to fly halfway around the world, often through contested air space. The alternative, sending a rocket from US soil on an orbital trajectory, eliminates both problems.
The gang’s all here: Blue Origin isn’t the only space company pushing point-to-point capabilities further. While the REGAL program is the experimentation arm of AFRL’s larger Rocket Cargo program—meaning many of these contracts come without funds to fly demo missions—some of these technologies will take flight soon. Additionally, DoD has other efforts ongoing for supporting tech, such as orbital warehouses.
- In 2022, AFRL awarded SpaceX a $102M contract to explore using Starship for point-to-point logistics missions—which could give the US military up to 100 tons of cargo per mission.
- In October 2024, Sierra Space revealed it won a REGAL contract to fund the scale up of its orbital reentry platform—called Ghost—to deliver between 5 and 10 tons of cargo from orbit.
- In May 2025, Rocket Lab unveiled a launch contract with AFRL to use its Neutron medium-lift launch vehicle to fly a demo point-to-point mission for the DoD NET 2026.
- In August 2025, Anduril was awarded a $1M contract to develop a reentry container capable of delivering between 5 and 10 tons of cargo from orbit.
True Anomaly Chases an Evading Target
True Anomaly said it had become the first company to execute an in-space pursuit of an evading target as part of VICTUS HAZE.
Payload Field Guide: European Launchers
Europe is firing on all fronts to stand up new launch capabilities, but the continent isn’t moving as fast as it might hope.
Rocket Lab Expands to Alaska with $266M Launch Contract
Rocket Lab will open up a new launch site at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska (PSCA) in Kodiak. Launches are expected to begin no earlier than the end of this year.
Starship Sticks the Water Landing on Flight 13
SpaceX flew the 13th test flight of its Starship rocket Friday evening, ending with the first intact Starship put in the water.
K2 Space announced a $500M Series D yesterday at a $6.8B post-money valuation. The round is hot off the heels of a $250M Series C in December, and brings K2’s total financing north of $1B since its founding in 2022.
Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ led the round, which included additional participation from CapitalG, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter, Spark Capital, Sands Capital, ARK Invest, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and other existing investors.
Do the math: While the lofty valuation comes just four months after K2 launched its first satellite—called Gravitas—CEO Karan Kunjur told Payload that it’s “purely based on multiples of next 12-month revenue.”
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