Waypoint Sierra
Consultants
Falcon Heavy climbing through a dark blue sky on the USSF-67 mission, January 15, 2023

Professional aerospace services for the most demanding missions

We support the acquisition, integration, and operation of the world’s most advanced space systems for defense and intelligence customers.

Email our team

From first requirement to first orbit

We stay with a mission through every phase, so nothing gets lost between the program office, the launch site, and operations.

  1. Pre-acquisition

    Shaping requirements and acquisition strategy, and finding the commercial and interagency partners who can move fastest.

  2. Acquisition

    Program management and systems engineering for multi-payload carrier vehicles and multi-manifest launches.

  3. Launch-site integration

    Bringing payloads, vehicle, and launch provider together on the range, through to liftoff.

  4. On-orbit operations

    Supporting checkout and operations once the mission is flying.

Programs we support

U.S. Space Force

Multi-manifest missions

Illustration of a Long Duration Propulsive ESPA vehicle in orbit above Earth

Programmatic integration services for multi-manifest space launches and the acquisition of multi-payload carrier vehicles, including the U.S. Space Force’s LDPE and ROOSTER series. These vehicles give prototypes and technology demonstrations rapid access to space, speeding up change in the nation’s defensive space architecture.

Our role
Program integration, multi-manifest launch, carrier vehicle acquisition
Mission phases
Pre-acquisition through launch-site integration and on-orbit operations

Space Systems Command

Innovation & Prototyping and COMSO

Entrance plaza with a ‘Welcome to the Front Door’ sign and Space Force emblems

Support to Space Systems Command’s Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta and the Commercial Space Office, delivering next-generation space enterprise solutions through commercial and interagency partnerships. This includes acquisition support to the USSF Front Door.

Our role
Acquisition support, commercial and interagency partnerships
Includes
USSF Front Door

Government customers

Cyber security engineering

Diagram of a space system inside its authorization boundary: a satellite, a ground station, and an operations center joined by protected links Authorization boundary Space segment Ground station Operations center Command and telemetry Ground network

Helping government customers navigate the complex world of cyber security engineering for new space and ground information systems.

Systems
New space and ground information systems

Mission history

The LDPE multi-manifest vehicles have flown on three national security launches, each carrying experiments and prototypes for the U.S. Space Force. The program continues as ROOSTER, with more flights ahead.

  1. Atlas V rocket lifting off between lightning towers at night on the STP-3 mission
    NASA/Joel Kowsky

    LDPE-1 STP-3

    Launched
    Rocket
    Atlas V 551
    From
    Cape Canaveral, SLC‑41
    Flew with
    STPSat-6
  2. Falcon Heavy climbing through morning haze on the USSF-44 mission
    Charles & Maggie Boyer, CC BY 2.0

    LDPE-2 USSF-44

    Launched
    Rocket
    Falcon Heavy
    From
    Kennedy Space Center, LC‑39A
    Orbit
    Near-geosynchronous
  3. Falcon Heavy lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at dusk on the USSF-67 mission
    U.S. Space Force photo by Senior Airman Thomas Sjoberg

    LDPE-3A USSF-67

    Launched
    Rocket
    Falcon Heavy
    From
    Kennedy Space Center, LC‑39A
    Flew with
    CBAS-2
Illustration of an ESPA-ring rideshare spacecraft with solar arrays and several payloads, in orbit above Earth at the day-night line with city lights below
Illustration. Earth imagery: NASA Blue Marble and Black Marble.

Next: ROOSTER

The Rapid On-orbit Space Technology Evaluation Ring carries the LDPE design forward: a ring-shaped spacecraft that rides along on national security launches and hosts experiments and prototypes in orbit.

  1. ROOSTER-4 USSF-43

    Status
    Upcoming
    Rocket
    Vulcan Centaur
    From
    Cape Canaveral, SLC‑41

  2. ROOSTER-5 USSF-70

    Status
    Upcoming
    Rocket
    To be announced

Our team

Portrait of Will Russell

Will Russell

Integration services for multi-manifest space launches and the acquisition of multi-payload carrier vehicles.

Experience
21 years in program management and systems engineering for DoD and commercial programs
Previously
Senior engineer, Parsons (9 years)
Education
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, USC
B.S. Systems Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy
Portrait of Loretta Childers

Loretta Childers

Systems engineering and commercial navigation support to SSC programs.

Experience
14 years in program management, program engineering, U.S. Army air defense, and DoD consulting
Previously
Program engineer and manager, Raytheon Technologies (9 years)
Education
MBA in Program Management, MSMU
B.S. English, UC Riverside
Certification
PMP
Close view of an Atlas V rocket’s engines igniting at liftoff

Work with us

We’re a small team doing hands-on work on national security space programs. If you bring program management, systems engineering, or cyber security experience and want to see your work reach orbit, we’d like to hear from you.

Email a short note and your résumé. Please don’t include your Social Security number, clearance details, or any controlled information.

Email your résumé