APOGEE STAFF
The U.S. Space Force is moving forward with a concept that seems more science fiction than science: shipping equipment and materiel to warfighters around the globe on rockets. The service is seeking funding to research, develop and test an idea once known as Rocket Cargo Vanguard and now called Point-to-Point Delivery or P2PD, Defense News reported in March 2024.
“When it absolutely, positively has to be there in 30 minutes,” quipped Air Force Col. Eric Felt, invoking an old Federal Express commercial during a panel discussion on the topic at the January 2024 Space Mobility Conference in Orlando, Florida. The idea dates to June 2021. Later, a contract was awarded by Space Force, the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) for SpaceX to explore adapting its reusable Starship spacecraft to deliver cargo through low Earth orbit.
Reusing rocket boosters also was dismissed in military circles as science fiction at one time, but SpaceX made the practice routine with its Falcon 9. Now, Falcon 9 rockets deliver more than 80% of the mass sent into orbit, said Gary Henry, SpaceX senior advisor, speaking during the panel discussion. Even more appealing than speed of delivery, rocket cargo has the potential to provide assured access, said panel member and Air Force Col. Christopher J. Seaman, then strategy division chief with USTRANSCOM. Flying point to point through orbit, Seaman said, might eliminate the need to get permission from sometimes-reluctant nations to deliver military cargo through their airspace.
“Industry is really leading the way with this rapid mobility through space idea,” he said. “Maybe it wasn’t feasible a long time ago under a cost benefit analysis, but maybe it’s getting to that.” Added panel member Greg Spanjers, AFRL chief scientist, “It’s a lot more attractive than it was.”