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The Army and Navy have vast territories of land and sea to conduct full-scale war games and training exercises. But what about the Space Force? At the moment, the nascent new branch of the U.S. military does not really have the resources, infrastructure, or doctrine to execute such critically important real-world scenarios for their personnel.

Satellite operations expert Even Rogers identified that problem when he left the Air Force a few years ago. He believed that he had deep specific knowledge on the problem, which led to the creation of True Anomaly — the company Rogers founded a little over a year ago — and their “Jackal” satellite.

Described as an “emulator” for Space Force training missions, the Jackal can simulate both adversary sparring partners and cooperating allies. It is equipped with sensors to track the movement of all satellites and earth-bound assets involved in the exercise.

True Anomaly hosted a grand opening for their 35 thousand-square-foot facility in Centennial last week. The team aims to build a fleet of autonomous satellites to support future Space Force training exercises, with an assembly rate of one Jackal satellite every five days.

The Thursday ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by U.S. Rep. Jason Crow and Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, the recently-retired first Chief of Space Operations. Crow emphasized that the facility represents an evolution from the military’s historic years-long cycles of weapons development.

The first two Jackal satellites are scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California next February, aboard a SpaceX rocket. While True Anomaly is first focusing on military contracts, they eventually intend to sell to commercial operators in need of space security training.

With about 90 employees, True Anomaly exemplifies the shift in the military and government entities looking to the rapidly expanding ecosystem of small and midsize space companies in Colorado. The Front Range in Colorado boasts the highest concentration of space-focused workers in the country.

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