Air, Space Forces pick up research pace for orbital cargo delivery

WASHINGTON — The Air and Space Forces over the past year have been picking up the pace of their multi-tiered research initiative aimed at developing an unusual idea seemingly straight from science fiction: the capability to rapidly deliver cargo into global hot zones by launching it through space.

But while the Pentagon was originally looking primarily at using large, reusable rockets for the delivery of goods, the military is now shifting its attention towards smaller reentry capsules.

The bi-service effort to leverage commercial capabilities for point-to-point delivery via space is somewhat confusing because it encompasses different programs with money in different budget pots — some funded jointly and some through service-specific spending.

The mother of them all, however, was the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) high-priority Vanguard program called Rocket Cargo, which began in June 2021 and focused on launching rockets filled with 30 tons of logistical supplies from the United States, into space, and down on far-flung bases and battlefields.

While that program is being phased down — the Air Force zeroed out funds in its fiscal 2026 budget and the Space Force gave it only a few million dollars in FY26 and FY27 — the children of Rocket Cargo live on and prosper today.

An AFRL spokesperson revealed that reason for the shift in focus towards reentry capsules is because of several promising advantages, including:

• the logistics of rapidly unloading cargo at the delivery site,
• the ability to deliver cargo to a more diverse range of austere sites and terrain,
• the ability to deploy multiple reentry capsules in a single launch to deliver cargo to the point of need at several different locations, and
• near-term potential for broad vendor diversity, both in the reentry capsule systems and options to deliver reentry capsules from multiple launch providers.

There are three primary efforts focused on cargo delivery through orbit, each with its own technological focus and budgets. Here’s what to know.

Payload Delivery System (P2D)

The development of reentry capsules now is being undertaken by an AFRL program called the Payload Delivery System (PDS) funded jointly by the Air and Space Forces.

“Due to the nature of these multi-disciplinary challenges spanning both Air and Space, the PDS project is structured to leverage expertise and resources across the services. While the U.S. Space Force is the lead service, the technology challenges are joint in nature,” the spokesperson added. “One example is the end-to-end cargo transport environments, including space, during reentry, and during delivery at an austere site (this may include land or sea).”

The two services began joint funding of the PDS program this year, with the Air Force fiscal 2026 budget slating $30.6 million and the Space Force’s $21.2 million. The Air Force asked for $32.3 million in its FY27 request; the Space Force asked for $16.5 million.

AFRL is working with a number of commercial firms under PDS, some established and some brand new, to find a solution that hits the sweet spot of low-cost pods that can carry a lot of cargo.

Reentry capsules are not a new thing: NASA, of course, has been using them for years to recover experiments as well as astronauts. These are very large, and also very expensive.

More recently, firms such as Varda Space Industries and Inversion Space have begun demonstrating smaller reentry vehicles for commercial uses, such as growing pharmaceuticals and building microchips in space and bringing them back to Earth.

According to market tracking website Factories in Space, there were 65 registered companies around the world working at some developmental stage on cargo reentry vehicles as of last September. Included in that number are big players SpaceX, which launched its first Starfall pod demo on June 23, and Blue Origin, which has yet to launch.

“Under the Rocket Cargo Vanguard and the Payload Delivery System project, we are engaged with industry to explore the potential trade-space for large, low-cost reentry capsules that are more suitable for rapid global mobility. To date, we have engaged with a number of potential commercial vendors, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Sierra Space, Varda, Inversion Space, Outpost Space, and a number of other small businesses,” the AFRL spokesperson said.

“Ultimately, we would like a broad vendor base for low-cost reentry solutions with the cargo capacity and delivery capability to austere sites for rapid global mobility,” the spokesperson added.

Point-to-Point Delivery (P2D)

The Space Force’s Servicing, Mobility, and Logistics (SML) program managed by System Delta 80 is responsible for the Point-to-Point Delivery (P2D) program, as one of its two mission areas. P2D is aimed at “orbital supply prepositioning and operational downmass as well as responsive sub-orbital and orbital point-to-point delivery operations,” according to service budget documents.

“The near-term focus of the P2D project will leverage technology developed within both commercial independent research and development (IRAD) and AFRL’s Rocket Cargo Vanguard program to study and develop P2D reference missions,” the budget documents say. (A reference mission is a concept study looking at the feasibility of a technology and/or capability.)

The Space Force began the P2D program in FY25 with $3.9 million, slated $19.3 million for it in FY26, and asked for $9.7 million in FY27 — with a similar amount projected each year through FY31.

Rocket Experimentation For Global Agile Logistics (REGAL)

Related to the P2D program is an AFRL Other Transaction Authority contract vehicle called Rocket Experimentation for Global Agile Logistics (REGAL), first published in 2021, with the terms of reference updated in 2024.

Under REGAL, no funds are being provided to develop commercial rockets. Instead, the focus is on funding P2D-related tech and demonstrations. Further, included in REGAL are no-cost agreements, so the overarching value of ongoing work is unclear.

Sierra Space in October 2024 announced an undisclosed REGAL contract; similarly Rocket Lab announced an undisclosed REGAL award in May 2025.

AFRL awarded Blue Origin $1.3 million and Anduril $1 million under REGAL in September 2025. In July, the lab added $11.7 million to Blue Origin’s contract bringing the total up to $13 million.