DAF26BX02-NV503 — Project Celestial: Multi-Domain Site Selection Framework for Terrestrial and Maritime Spaceport Infrastructure
Award Maximum: $150,000 Period of Performance: 3 months Phase Type: Phase I
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this Phase I effort is to design and demonstrate the feasibility of an integrated survey platform and decision-support framework—Project Celestial—to identify, evaluate, and rank optimal global locations for future terrestrial and maritime spaceports. The framework should model and evaluate multi-variable site-selection criteria—including geospatial, political, environmental, security, and logistical factors—to enable objective, data-driven analysis of candidate launch locations. The resulting capability should support strategic military and dual-use infrastructure planning for future terrestrial and maritime spaceport operations.
DESCRIPTION: This project seeks to broaden global launch opportunities and enhance operational flexibility for the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and its allies. Current site-selection processes are often siloed, manual, and lack the multi-domain granularity required to assess the complex interplay between geographic, political, and logistical variables at operational planning scale. To ensure persistent access to space and support expeditionary launch capabilities, there is a critical need for a centralized, data-driven decision-support framework.
To address this gap, the DAF seeks the development of Project Celestial: an integrated survey platform and decision-support framework capable of identifying, evaluating, and ranking global sites for terrestrial and maritime spaceport operations. The system must synthesize multiple data streams to provide commanders and planners with high-confidence assessments for both military and dual-use infrastructure development. The solution should be capable of:
Comprehensive Data Synthesis: Integrating multi-domain data, including:
Geographic & Logistical: Latitude, proximity to the equator, downrange hazard modeling, range safety, and existing site infrastructure (port access, fuel, power, and road/rail connectivity).
Political & Legal: Host nation stability, international treaty constraints, regulatory compliance, and overflight rights.
Maritime Specifics: Analysis of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), sea state variance, and proximity to major commercial shipping lanes.
Environmental & Societal: Population density, ecological protection zones, and indigenous land rights impact.
Security & Threat Modeling: Assessing site resilience in contested environments, the ability to secure critical launch technology, and evaluating dual-use risk profiles.
Collaboration Analytics: Identifying opportunities for allied and commercial partnerships based on local aerospace presence, commercial provider accessibility, and international agreement frameworks.
Dynamic Decision Support: Providing a customizable interface that allows users to weigh different criteria based on mission-specific requirements (e.g., prioritizing "rapid response" versus "long-term sustainment").
Scalability: Maintaining accuracy and reliability when transitioning from localized survey datasets to global, theater-level analyses.
This topic seeks a robust decision-support framework that enables objective, data-driven site analysis. By standardizing the evaluation process, Project Celestial will directly support the DAF's objective to expand space access and enhance the resilience of the nation's launch infrastructure through informed, strategic site selection.
PHASE I: Establish the technical feasibility of Project Celestial, a comprehensive, multi-domain survey platform and decision-support framework for identifying and ranking global spaceport locations. This Phase I effort focuses on designing the foundational system architecture, codifying site-selection logic across disparate data sets, and demonstrating the platform's capacity to support strategic infrastructure planning. Key activities may include:
Methodology Development: Formulate the core geospatial and analytical methodology for evaluating terrestrial and maritime spaceport suitability, defining the weighting logic for diverse variables such as assessing sites based on a range of operational, logistical, and environmental factors.
Architecture & Data Integration: Design the framework's technical architecture, focusing on the ingestion and synthesis of diverse data streams (e.g., maritime EEZ data, environmental constraints, and infrastructure readiness).
Stakeholder Engagement: Conduct collaborative sessions with key organizations—including USSF Space Systems Command (SSC) S4, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), and the USSF Space Access Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) office—to ensure alignment with mission-critical requirements.
Prototype Mockup Design: Develop interface mockups or dashboard logic to demonstrate how users will interact with the data and influence site-ranking outputs.
Feasibility & Concept Validation: Document an initial Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for the platform, detailing how it will be utilized for global site analysis and demonstrating the capability to integrate commercial, allied, and open-source datasets relevant to site selection.
Deliverables may include:
Feasibility Study: A technical report detailing the proposed geospatial methodology and the framework's ability to handle multi-domain data ingestion.
System Design Document: Architectural specifications outlining the data-handling processes, security protocols, and decision-support logic.
Concept of Operations (CONOPS) Document: A detailed plan outlining the role of Project Celestial within military and dual-use planning workflows.
Interface Mockups & Initial Dashboard Designs: Visual demonstrations of the system's decision-support capabilities and output visualizations.
Stakeholder Alignment Report: Summary of findings and requirements derived from engagement with USSF, DIU, SSC, and Space Access stakeholders, including early feedback from potential commercial or allied partners.
PHASE II: Advance Project Celestial from a Phase I conceptual framework to a fully operational, high-fidelity survey and decision-support platform for global spaceport site selection. This phase will deliver a functional software prototype capable of multi-domain site analysis, providing commanders and planners with actionable intelligence for both military and dual-use space infrastructure development. Key activities may include:
Develop and Deploy Functional Prototype: Build a working version of the Celestial platform, incorporating a map-based interface that supports dynamic, layered data visualization (e.g., infrastructure, political risk, weather, and orbital geometry).
Implement Scoring & Ranking Engine: Develop and integrate the core analytical engine to produce automated site suitability scores, enabling users to generate and compare "scorecards" for both terrestrial and maritime locations.
Enable Scenario Planning: Expand system functionality to support region-specific modeling, allowing users to run military, humanitarian, and commercial launch scenarios to evaluate suitability against specific operational constraints.
Integrate with Mission Systems: Enable export of platform recommendations into planning environments, including the Spaceport of the Future's Common Operating Picture (SPOF COP).
Conduct Prototype Validation & Testing: Validate platform efficacy through rigorous testing across varied geographical regions, ensuring the tool's output remains accurate under diverse regulatory, environmental, and security conditions.
Align with U.S. Department of War (DoW) Infrastructure Planning: Ensure seamless interoperability with SSC, USSF Field Command, and Space Launch Delta priorities, facilitating a clear transition path for operational adoption.
Deliverables may include:
Functioning Software Prototype: A fully interactive, user interface (UI)-driven decision-support platform ready for operational evaluation.
Candidate Site Library: A baseline repository of ranked terrestrial and maritime spaceport candidates, scored based on the validated multi-variable methodology.
Regional Case Studies: Validate top-tier candidates using advanced modeling and simulation.
Integration Roadmap: Detailed plan for ingesting classified data overlays and ensuring interoperability with DAF command-and-control systems.
Operational Transition Plan: A roadmap for formal transition to SSC and other USSF stakeholders, including pathways to reach TRL 6-7 by completion of this phase.
Updated CONOPS: Refined Concept of Operations reflecting lessons learned from the prototype deployment and integration exercises.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Project Celestial will transition from a high-fidelity prototype into an operational, enterprise-grade decision-support platform for use across the USSF, DAF, and broader Joint and commercial logistics communities. Potential military applications include:
Strategic Basing Analysis: Enables planners to identify optimal locations for contested logistics and rapid launch operations, supporting resilient access in diverse theaters, including the Indo-Pacific and polar regions.
Campaign & Contingency Planning: Supports mission rehearsal and infrastructure development for initiatives such as Rocket Cargo, Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS), and integrated logistics node planning within the Space Joint Movement Complex (SJMC).
Enterprise Infrastructure Synchronization: Enables seamless integration with DoW command-and-control ecosystems, providing objective site assessments that inform long-term MILCON (Military Construction) and expeditionary base investment.
The platform's analytical engine and data-synthesis capabilities provide significant dual-use value for the expanding global space economy. Potential commercial applications include:
Commercial Launch & Vertical Integration: Assists launch providers in identifying strategic sites that optimize orbital geometry, regulatory compliance, and local industrial support.
Maritime Launch & Risk Management: Provides maritime launch firms with specialized data sets for assessing navigational safety, sea-state variance, and international legal risk.
Allied & Institutional Infrastructure Planning: Offers a collaborative environment for allied nations and investment firms to evaluate joint-use launch infrastructure and identify high-potential aerospace development zones.
Project Celestial will be transitioned into the DAF enterprise through coordination with Space Systems Command (SSC), the Space Access Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) office, and relevant defense infrastructure directorates. Parallel commercialization efforts will focus on licensing the platform to spaceport operators, logistics tech developers, and international partners requiring robust, multi-variable decision support.
Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at Phase III Entry: TRL 8–9, following successful validation in operational planning environments and integration with DAF infrastructure and command-and-control platforms.