Anduril says its first satellite can see adversaries maneuver in orbital night

Anduril Industries said it successfully demonstrated a satellite-based sensor designed to track spacecraft that may hide maneuvers in Earth’s shadow. Its oven-sized satellite, funded with internal capital, launched on a SpaceX rideshare in July, and the company reported the tech demo’s success on Tuesday.

• Payloads included an edge-compute processor, a power-management system adaptable to different mission types, and a long-wave infrared space sensor.
• The satellite, named Anduril-216, flies about 590 km (366 mi) above Earth.
• It spends about one-third of each orbit in darkness, when the infrared imager can observe other objects.

• about 590 km (366 mi) — Altitude of Anduril-216 above Earth in its orbit
• about one-third — Share of each orbit spent in darkness
• July — Month of the SpaceX rideshare launch of the satellite
• Tuesday — Day Anduril reported success of the tech demo

The company reported the demonstration on Tuesday after a July rideshare launch funded with internal capital.

The account is Anduril’s own announcement of a tech demo, with no outside verification in the text.