Rhea Space Activity — JAM Autonomous Cislunar Navigation¶
FO Project: 155243 Jervis Autonomy Module (JAM) Test Flight
TRL: 4 → 6 (achieved, TRL 6 at time of Session 15)
Period: 2023-05-01 – 2027-01-31
Views: 2,008
Outcome category: Mission Infusion (planned) — JAM on CP-12 CLPS lunar orbit relay
Federal $ tracked: $10.2M+ (DoD + NASA)
Private funding: $750K total raised (SpaceFund pre-seed 2021; unattributed round Apr 2025; investors include AzurX, Iron Prairie Ventures, Seraphim Space)
Confidence: confirmed (contracts), confirmed (CP-12 payload agreement)
What JAM Does¶
JAM (Jervis Autonomy Module) provides onboard autonomous optical navigation — the spacecraft takes images of celestial objects and calculates its position without needing ground station contact or GPS. This eliminates the "two-way ranging + radiometrics" requirement that currently drives up ground support costs for cislunar missions.
Technology lineage: JAM is based on the navigation algorithm developed for NASA's Deep Impact mission (2005), which autonomously guided an impactor to intercept comet Tempel 1 at 22,000 mph — equivalent to 4.8 tons of TNT at impact. The algorithm was repurposed by Rhea for operational spacecraft use.
PI: Shawn Usman
Primary TX: (cislunar navigation/GNC)
Federal Contracts¶
| Award | Agency | Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FA942222C0009 | USAF | $3.40M | SBIR Phase II — Sky Auger: GPS-denied optical nav for USAF reentry vehicles (Sep 2022 – Aug 2026) |
| W5170125CA058 | Army | $2.00M | ANVIL: Handheld GPS-denied self-location for ATAK / Army 1st Special Forces (Apr 2025 – Oct 2026) |
| FA254125CB040 | USAF Space Force | $1.90M | Space Sustainment/Maneuver: Advancing Autonomous Nav for Orbital Operations (May 2025 – Apr 2027) |
| FA945125CX014 | USAF | $1.80M | AI-controlled high-altitude balloons + SDA (Apr 2025 – Jul 2027) |
| 80NSSC24PB507 | NASA | $149.9K | SBIR Phase I — LITPHAM: Low-illumination planetary hazard avoidance (Aug 2024) |
| FA945322CA034 | USAF | $249.9K | Spitzer Resurrector: Telerobotic life extension for Spitzer (Jul 2022) |
| W15QKN24C0044 | Army | $197K | StereoJAM STTR Phase I (Jun 2024) |
| FA945325CX026 | USAF | $180K | STTR Phase I — DR. LEGS: Deep Reinforcement Learning for Guaranteed Safety (Dec 2024) |
| 80NSSC24PB507 | NASA | $149.9K | SBIR Phase I — LITPHAM: Low-illumination planetary hazard avoidance (Aug 2024) |
| N6426725C7305 | Navy | $140K | 873 Authority contract (Jul 2025) |
| FA864921P0679 | USAF | $50K | SBIR Phase I — Solar propulsion + unfolding structures (Apr 2021) |
| FA864920P0695 | USAF | $50K | LUNINT Dashboard (Mar 2020) |
| FA864920P0544 | USAF | $50K | Cruise Missile Detection — in-space coated origami mirror (Mar 2020) |
| Total (tracked) | $10.2M+ | Primarily DoD; NASA is secondary |
SpaceFund investment: Pre-series equity investment (2021). Private funding not quantified.
Lunar Mission Infusion: CP-12 / ispace ULTRA (formerly APEX 1.0)¶
$750K NASA TechFlights grant to fly two JAM units on the Draper-led CP-12 CLPS mission:
- CP-12 = Draper's Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract (~$56.93M) for a lunar far-side lander (see Draper Precision Landing)
- Two JAM units will be installed on two small spacecraft in lunar orbit as communications relays for the ispace lander on the far side
- JAM enables each relay spacecraft to determine its lunar orbit autonomously via celestial navigation
- This is TRL 7+ deployment — JAM transitions from FO suborbital demo to actual lunar orbit operations
SCHEDULE UPDATE (Session 63): CP-12 has been delayed from ~2026 to NET 2030. ispace announced the ULTRA lander (March 27, 2026), replacing APEX 1.0 by merging it with the Japanese Series 3 design after two sequential engine failures. Execution is pending NASA approval. JAM's lunar deployment is now 4+ years delayed — entirely due to lander issues, not technology readiness. See CLPS Lander Risk — FO Impact for the systemic analysis.
Connection to existing KB: This links the Rhea Space Activity FO arc directly to the Draper CP-12 arc (draper-precision-landing.md). Three separate FO organizations (Draper, Rhea Space Activity, + others) are converging on the same CLPS mission.
2026 Space Force VANGUARD contract (Jan 8, 2026): Awarded under SpaceWERX's Sustained Space Maneuver (SSM) Challenge (~$1.9M, 15 months). VANGUARD = "Vision-based Autonomous Navigation and Guidance for Unassisted Approach, Rendezvous, and Deployment." Adds autonomous RPO capability to AutoNav for Earth-centric orbits. This is contract FA254125CB040 ($1.9M) in the table above. RSA was one of 10 companies selected under the SSM Challenge.
Session 100: Varda W-6 Hypersonic Test (March 30, 2026)¶
Major milestone. RSA flew a hosted payload on Varda Space Industries' W-6 re-entry capsule, launched March 30, 2026 from Vandenberg SFB on SpaceX Transporter-16 (119 payloads). The payload — two cameras and a flight computer — tests AutoNav's ability to determine position during hypersonic re-entry, when GPS signals are blocked by plasma sheath and radio blackout. The software photographs objects in LEO and cross-references them against the U.S. Space Force's Unified Data Library to compute position.
Why this matters: This is RSA's first flight validation on a hypersonic vehicle. The Deep Impact heritage algorithm (22,000 mph comet intercept) is now being tested at hypersonic reentry speeds — a direct path to the USAF Sky Auger reentry vehicle contract ($3.4M, FA942222C0009). Funded through AFRL.
Session 100: Australian Subsidiary for AUKUS Submarines (Sep 2024)¶
RSA launched Rhea Space Activity AU Pty Ltd (Sep 2024) to develop a sovereign Australian maritime variant of JAM for AUKUS submarine platforms. Targets: - Near-term: Collins-class submarine GPS-denied navigation (presentation to ASCA) - By 2030: Integration into SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines - Surface warfare: Hunter-class and Anzac-class frigates
This is the first international subsidiary and represents JAM's expansion into the maritime domain — land, air, space, sea, and now submarine navigation from a single algorithm lineage. The AUKUS alignment is strategically significant: RSA is positioning as a Five Eyes GPS-denied navigation provider.
Press coverage (Apr 1, 2026): The National (UAE) featured RSA in "GPS will be 'first casualty' of future conflicts" — validating the market positioning.
Technology Breadth¶
Rhea's contracts reveal an unusually broad application portfolio for a small company: - Cislunar/deep space navigation (NASA FO, CLPS) - GPS-denied optical nav for USAF reentry vehicles (Sky Auger SBIR) - Handheld GPS-denied navigation for Special Forces ATAK (ANVIL — Army) - Autonomous orbital maneuvering (Space Force VANGUARD) - AI-controlled high-altitude balloons + SDA (USAF) - Spitzer revival concept (2022 study)
The common thread: celestial/optical navigation algorithms that work without GPS or ground contact. The JAM FO project is the NASA-facing tip of what is primarily a DoD-funded GPS-denied navigation company.
Session 49 update: RSA's contract portfolio has grown to $10.2M+ across 13 awards from 4 agencies (USAF, Army, Navy, NASA). The DR. LEGS STTR (deep reinforcement learning for safe autonomous maneuvers, $180K, Dec 2024) and Navy 873 Authority contract ($140K, Jul 2025) are new since Session 15. The LUNINT Dashboard ($50K, 2020) and cruise missile detection origami mirror ($50K, 2020) are early-phase concepts predating the JAM FO project — showing RSA had DoD traction before NASA engagement.
Surprise Assessment¶
Pre-query expectation: Active FO project, probably some DoD contracts given the navigation tech overlap.
Actual: JAM is physically flying on CP-12 CLPS mission in 2026 (two units). DoD portfolio is $9.8M+, primarily from USAF GPS-denied reentry and Army Special Forces apps. The ANVIL/Army contract is the biggest surprise — the same algorithm that navigates spacecraft is being deployed as a handheld device for soldiers in GPS-denied environments.
Surprise level: HIGH — CLPS infusion confirmed, and the DoD-to-NASA technology pivot is unusual (usually it goes the other way)
Time Dimension¶
- FO project start: May 2023
- FO TRL 6 achieved: ~2024-2025
- Sep 2024: Australian subsidiary launched (AUKUS submarines)
- Mar 2026: Varda W-6 hypersonic test (AutoNav on reentry vehicle)
- CP-12 CLPS launch: NET 2030 (delayed from 2026; ispace ULTRA redesign)
- JAM operates in lunar orbit: NET 2030
Cross-References¶
- Critical link: Draper Precision Landing — CP-12 mission host; DMEN on the lander, JAM on the relay spacecraft
- Related: GPS-denied navigation connects to KSC AFTS (range safety without GPS)
- ispace-US APEX 1.0 is the payload lander for the far-side mission
Investigated: Session 15 (2026-04-06) | Updated: Session 100 (2026-04-07)
Sources: TechPort [155243], USASpending (14 awards, $10.2M+), SpaceNews, ispace press release, Rhea Space Activity website, SpaceWERX SSM Challenge, Varda W-6 PR (Mar 30 2026), EIN Presswire (AUKUS subsidiary Sep 2024), The National (GPS article Apr 1 2026), Tracxn