Turion Space Joins Parsons Team on $981 Million Space Force NITE-STAR Contract and Clears First Space-Based Interceptor Gate

Turion Space, a Veteran Ventures Capital Fund II portfolio company and a leader in space domain awareness, orbital intelligence and national security space infrastructure, had a consequential August across three Space Force efforts.

On August 19, Parsons announced its selection for the National Space Test and Training Complex Innovative Technology and Engineering, Space Test and Range (NITE-STAR) contract, a multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity vehicle with a shared ceiling of $981 million across two five-year ordering periods. NITE-STAR is intended to accelerate the development of space test and training capabilities that prepare Space Force personnel for operations in contested environments, and selection required demonstrated success delivering operational space vehicles and ground systems. Parsons' team includes Turion Space alongside Blue Canyon Technologies, Orion Space Solutions, EnduroSat and Intuitive Machines.

One week earlier, at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Direct Reporting Program Manager for Golden Dome for America, said the Space-Based Interceptor competition had closed out Gate One, the design and component-testing phase, with all twelve performers progressing. Turion Space is one of the twelve companies awarded Space-Based Interceptor Other Transaction agreements in April, alongside Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Anduril, SpaceX, True Anomaly and others. Three gates remain: a space-capable prototype, an on-orbit demonstration, and integration into the broader Golden Dome architecture.

Turion also published its own account of Exercise SALITRE on August 26. Over four days, the company's DROID.002 satellite executed avoidance maneuvers in low Earth orbit against a simulated adversary satellite while continuing its primary mission for SPACEFOR-SOUTH, the Joint Commercial Operations Cell and five allied nations, staying clear of a 500-meter intercept zone with tracking from LeoLabs and orbital modeling from Saber Astronautics.

Sources: Parsons announcement via StreetInsider; Defense Daily; Turion Space.

Image: Turion Space