Rapid Reconstitution of Space Capabilities

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is seeking innovative technical solutions and operational concepts to enable the rapid, responsive, and cost-effective reconstitution of space capabilities that may be lost or degraded due to adversarial actions. This effort is driven by the increasingly contested nature of the space domain, where potential adversaries are actively developing and deploying a range of offensive counterspace capabilities—including direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons, signal jamming and spoofing, and cyberattacks on satellite and ground infrastructure—that threaten critical U.S. systems supporting communications, positioning, navigation, timing, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The goal is to ensure the United States can swiftly recover and restore essential space-based functions following an attack, building upon recent milestones like the 2023 Victus Nox mission, which demonstrated the feasibility of launching a space vehicle within 27 hours of order. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to create a resilient, diversified architecture that makes large-scale disruption of U.S. space assets impractical and escalatory, leveraging programs such as the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve to expand the pool of available space systems. This Request for Information, issued under solicitation number DARPA-SN-26-42, is not a formal solicitation for proposals and will not result in an award. Instead, it is a sources-sought notice aimed at gathering market insights and identifying novel approaches to operationalize rapid space reconstitution. Respondents are required to submit responses via email no later than July 8, 2026, with submissions limited to eight pages total, including a cover sheet, a five-page technical description that must contain a white space chart, and a two-page bibliography. Technical responses must be submitted in 12-point font, single-spaced, on 8.5 by 11-inch paper with one-inch margins, in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. All respondents must declare their citizenship status as U.S. citizen, U.S. person, or foreign national, and any proprietary information must be clearly labeled. Classified information is strictly prohibited, and responses will be treated as Controlled Unclassified Information. Questions and correspondences must be directed to the designated DARPA email, and large files exceeding 10 MB require prior coordination for submission via a secure link up to 1 GB. This RFI is critical to informing future program development for ensuring the enduring resilience of U.S. space assets amid evolving global threats.