Oracle-M moves to USSF-63

SpaceNews reported on 24 October that the Space Force moved a payload stack for an experimental cislunar surveillance mission from Vulcan to Falcon Heavy, part of a broader reshuffle of military launches prompted by Vulcan delays. On 28 October, Air & Space Forces reported, citing Space Systems Command, that the stack includes Oracle-M and moved from the USSF-112 mission to USSF-63, scheduled to launch on Falcon Heavy this year. The Space Force will move a later SpaceX mission to United Launch Alliance in return. SpaceNews, 24 October 2026 · Air & Space Forces, 28 October 2026

Blue Canyon Technologies built Oracle-M for AFRL under a $14.6 million contract awarded in November 2021. AFRL built it to demonstrate mobility in cislunar space and to experiment with tracking known objects there. The mission will demonstrate tracking and trajectory estimation for cislunar objects, cloud-based ground operations shared by government and contractor teams, and navigation and communications through commercial ground systems. Its propulsion module uses Hall-effect thrusters, which use electric and magnetic fields to accelerate ionized xenon gas, with propellant management and power-processing units. AFRL and Space Systems Command fired the complete module for the first time as an integrated unit at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 16–21 March 2025. Space Systems Command and AFRL, 6 May 2025 · Blue Canyon Technologies, 8 April 2024 · AFRL Oracle family fact sheet

Oracle-P is the dedicated tracker

Oracle-P is a dedicated space domain awareness (SDA) experiment to detect and track both known and unknown objects in cislunar space. Oracle-P has a different team: Advanced Space is prime, Terran Orbital provides the spacecraft and Quantum Space the payload. The team completed the preliminary design review in December 2025, and Advanced Space says the system is on track for delivery in 2027. AFRL awarded Advanced Space $72 million for the Oracle program in November 2022; the 2023 team listed General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Leidos. Advanced Space, 20 April 2026 · AFRL, 10 November 2022 · General Atomics, 5 January 2023

Oracle-P will operate near Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1, a point of gravitational balance between Earth and the Moon. It will use a wide-field sensor and a more sensitive narrow-field sensor to find objects and keep track of them, and process images on board to reduce the volume of data sent to Earth. Its on-orbit experiments are planned to last two years. Data from both Oracle satellites will be available through the Unified Data Library. AFRL Oracle family fact sheet · Advanced Space, 20 April 2026

Cislunar Prime and two requests to industry

SpaceWERX is leading Cislunar Prime for AFRL. The program seeks commercial capabilities in three areas: space domain awareness, cislunar communications, and positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). An AFRL spokesperson gave Air & Space Forces a tentative plan: formally announce the effort in December, solicit proposals in January and begin awarding contracts next spring. The program has $30 million to fund 15 direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts worth $2 million each. Air & Space Forces, 29 October 2026

Alongside Cislunar Prime, the Space Force plans two RFIs. The first will seek existing commercial or near-commercial hardware and software that could fly within two to three years, for SDA and PNT, with ground systems as part of an integrated network. The second will ask industry about AI and autonomous operations, so spacecraft can detect and manage hardware failures, process sensor data and adjust their missions as conditions change. Purdy said the service wants capabilities it can field by the end of fiscal 2029. The Cislunar Coordination Office is also refining a cislunar roadmap with mission-area strategies for lunar time, SDA and communications, he said. Breaking Defense, 22 October 2026 · Air & Space Forces, 29 October 2026

NASA’s CAPSTONE 02 practices rendezvous at the Moon

Purdy said the Space Force is working with NASA toward a unified architecture across the government, looking at where NASA is investing to decide which gaps the Space Force funds. NASA’s CAPSTONE 02 will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, autonomous navigation and cislunar communications in lunar orbit. Breaking Defense, 22 October 2026 · NASA, 24 July 2026

NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate funds CAPSTONE 02, and NASA targets 2027 for launch. Advanced Space is the prime contractor. Terran Orbital is building two identical spacecraft of about 400 kilograms each. Each can switch between “chaser” and “target” roles, and the mission will use ground tracking, optical sensors and celestial bodies to help one spacecraft locate and rendezvous with the other. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory supplies an optical imaging payload. NASA, 24 July 2026

Advanced Space completed CAPSTONE 02’s critical design review (CDR) in August, moving the mission into development, integration and testing. NASA says the mission applies navigation strategies similar to those planned for Orion’s approach to a lunar lander. It will test three NASA-developed navigation software suites during its low-energy transfer from Earth to lunar orbit, and further mature the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System software, which determines a spacecraft’s position relative to other spacecraft. Advanced Space, 25 August 2026 · NASA, 24 July 2026

What is known and what remains open