Keep themission running.

Persistent, reconfigurable orbital infrastructure for continuity of operations in contested space.
Briefing for the U.S. Space ForceSymphony Space, November 2026
The problem

Space is a warfighting domain.

Its infrastructure can’t move, adapt or recover.

Resilience

Single-mission spacecraft are fixed targets. Lose the satellite, lose the capability, with no path to restore it short of a new launch.

Time

3–7 years to design, procure and integrate. Then a 1–5 year service life.

Adaptability

Once on orbit, mission hardware can’t be swapped, upgraded or retasked as the threat changes.

Logistics

No forward-positioned supply in orbit. Every replacement starts on the ground.

Cost

$30K–$150K per kg per month. A dedicated bus, integration, launch and operations for every mission.

Why now

The threat has outpaced the architecture.

The technology to fix it is ready.

The threat

Kinetic ASATs, co-orbital RPO, jamming and cyber make fixed assets liabilities. China’s Shijian-25 appears to have refueled another satellite in GEO in 2025.

The doctrine

Space Force is shifting to resilience, maneuver and Space Mobility & Logistics. Golden Dome and proliferated architectures need capacity faster than traditional acquisition can field it.

The enablers

Autonomy, RPO and docking, transfer vehicles, optical crosslinks and in-space robotics are ready. Commercial integration is policy, and DoW buys capability as a service.

How space infrastructure has evolved
Dedicated1957–1990s. Purpose-built spacecraft
Shared1990s–2010s. Stations and hosted payloads
Proliferated2010s–today. Smallsats, cheaper launch
Serviceable2020s–today. Docking and life extension
AdaptableNext: modular, reconfigurable. Symphony Space
Continuity of operations

Lose a capability. Restore it on orbit.

TodayReplace the satellite
Design, procure, integrate, launch: 3–7 years
With SymphonySwap the module
Restored from on-orbit spares
Capability lost Illustrative
Spares in placeReplacement modules staged on orbit and swapped robotically, with no new spacecraft.
Next rideshare, or noneA degraded capability is restored at the next rideshare, or without a launch at all.
No single point of failureA proliferated fleet of platforms, each one able to host and restore the others’ missions.

DARPA’s June 2026 reconstitution RFI asked for payloads restored or refreshed in weeks. This is the architecture that does it.

Rapid reconfiguration

Field in months. Retask in orbit.

Rapid deployment. The platform is already commissioned, so new payloads field in months on a one-year integration cycle, not 3–7 years.

Reconfiguration. Robotic module swaps retask, upgrade or scale a platform as the mission or threat changes.

Tech insertion. Today’s standard port accepts tomorrow’s technology. Validate new hardware in real orbital conditions on a 6–18 month timeline.

Adagio’s robotic arm docking a mission module. Animation. Patent pending.

Capacity, forward-deployed.

Defense-grade infrastructure, without the multi-year program.

Proliferated fleetNo single point of failure
Isolated, encrypted channelsOne per tenant; customers own their data and tasking
ISR and comms modulesSwapped on orbit as the mission changes
Secure optical crosslinks1–10 Gbps; every platform is also a comms node
Forward logistics

Orbital warehousing. A supply chain that starts in orbit.

A partner transfer vehicle arrives with modules while the arm stages one. Patent pending.

Pre-positionedSpares, consumables and mission hardware staged on orbit, where they’re needed

Store and forwardPartner transfer vehicles deliver 200 kg modules, each launched independently over the platform’s 15-year life

Dispensed on demandThe robotic arm stages, swaps and hands off hardware to the mission

Back to EarthDownmass and drop-ship of payloads to mission-critical areas

Depoting

Fuel, forward-deployed in GEO.

Maneuver without regret: reposition and respond, then refuel and return to station.

1,200 kgTransferable fuel across 12 pods
200 kgStore-forward fuel modules, delivered by partner transfer vehicles
4 fuelsHydrazine, AF-M315E, LMP-103S and xenon, through multiple port types
2030Allegro: persistent GEO hosting, depot and servicing
How it works
Render of the Symphony Wireless Interface System, a cylindrical docking interface with a ring of power and data pads around a central capture plate

One interface. Any module.

SWIS, the Symphony Wireless Interface System, carries power and data across a berthed, pin-free interface. It’s what makes on-orbit swaps routine.

MOSA-alignedAny compliant module from any vendor, with no proprietary adapters

Contactless power and dataRemoves connector wear as a failure mode for repeated swaps

Patent pendingCore design held as a trade secret

System boundaries

What we build, what we integrate, who we partner with.

We build

The SWIS interface, modules and berthing mechanism, platform architecture and systems engineering, autonomy and mission operations software.

We integrate

Bus subsystems, avionics, power, propulsion and communications from qualified suppliers. Robotic arm hardware from Orbital Robotics. Debris impact sensing from Odin Space.

We partner for

Launch from any provider. Orbital transfer and logistics with Astroscale U.S. Cloud and ground with AWS. Compute hosting with Catalyst Data Centers.

Symphony operates the platform. Not the payload, not the tasking, not the product. Every module gets its own isolated data channel, and mission operations stay with the customer.

ITAR/EAR posture documented. CMMC and NIST 800-171 work in progress.

Readiness

Readiness, stated per subsystem.

Subsystem
Where it stands
TRL today → orbit
SWIS interface
PDR complete; patent filing in progress
5 → 7
Dynamic power management
Breadboard testing on the ground
4 → 7
Adaptive ADCS
Breadboard testing on the ground
4 → 7
Robotic arm
Partner co-development
3 → 6

Prelude, scaled demonstrator

PDRQ3 2026

CDRQ1 2027

Flight model, AIV startQ2 2027

Launch, booked rideshareApr 2028

IP demonstrations completeQ3 2028

Adagio-01, first operational platform

PDRQ3 2027

CDRQ4 2027

Build completeQ3 2028

LaunchQ2 2029

Module swaps beginQ1 2030

Demand signal

“Our guardians should train with an actual asset on orbit. I have the mission control and the ground station piece, but I don’t have the on-orbit capacity…”

U.S. Space Force program manager, July 2026

“Adagio… has a huge amount of potential.”

Colonel, USAF, Director, DoW Foreign Comparative Testing, September 2026

Engagement to date

Space Test Program: moving toward our first OTA; contract vehicle in place

SpaceWERX: Direct-to-Phase-II proposals for Orbital Logistics and orbital warehousing, as prime and as sub

Space Systems Command: modular, scalable approach validated in technical review

Space Force briefed 5×; AFRL OTA discussions; DARPA, DIU, Army and Navy engaged

Navy SBIR Phase I under way on optical inter-satellite links

Roadmap

LEO to GEO to cislunar.

LEO: continuity and reconstitutionHosting, rapid reconfiguration, spares and warehousing for proliferated architectures
GEO: depot and servicingPersistent hosting, refueling and life extension for national security payloads
Cislunar: logistics and awarenessOrbital warehousing and domain awareness beyond GEO
Prelude demonstrator renderLEOPreludeApril 2028
Adagio-Mini render Adagio-MiniDec 2028
Adagio render AdagioQ2 2029
Adagio-XL render Adagio-XLQ4 2029
GEO
GEOAllegro2030
Cislunar
CislunarNocturne2032+
Working together

Four ways to start.

01Fly a payload

A Space Force or STP payload on Prelude (April 2028) or Adagio-Mini (December 2028).

02Train on a real asset

Guardians operate a live platform on orbit, using the mission control and ground stations they already have.

03Prototype reconstitution

Demonstrate an on-orbit module swap and restore under a prototype OT through STP.

04Stage logistics

Warehousing and depot pathfinders through SpaceWERX Orbital Logistics and Space Mobility & Logistics.

Instrument
What it covers
Status
Prototype OT, 10 U.S.C. § 4022
Fly and demonstrate on Adagio, with a path to follow-on production
STP: contract vehicle in place
SpaceWERX SBIR, Direct-to-Phase-II
SWIS flatsat, payload pods, orbital warehousing
Submitted, prime and sub
Hosted payload slot
A Space Force payload on an early mission, with data shared both ways
Offered

SAM.gov UEI ZD3YP351J1M7, CAGE 1ZX87

Continuous operations.Capability that adaptsas fast as the threat.

merry@symphony-space.com Merry Walker, Co-founder and CEO. Symphony Space, Arlington, Virginia.
symphony-space.comUEI ZD3YP351J1M7, CAGE 1ZX87
Use the arrow keys or swipe