Space Force-backed mission does its best impression of Top Gun in orbit

Space Force-backed mission does its best impression of Top Gun in orbitArs Technica

Jul 30, 2026 17:35

Rocket Labs Puma satellite captured this view of True Anomalys Jackal, or Panther, satellite in orbit during the first round of Victus Haze demonstrations. — Rocket Lab's Puma satellite captured this view of True Anomaly's Jackal, or Panther, satellite in orbit during the first round of Victus Haze demonstrations.

An ongoing military exercise happening hundreds of miles above Earth has—for the first time in an unclassified setting—demonstrated how future satellites might evade and pursue one another in a future conflict.

That was the announcement Wednesday from True Anomaly, one of the companies involved in the exercise. True Anomaly's Jackal satellite, also known as Panther, played the cat-and-mouse game with another spacecraft named Puma, based on Rocket Lab's Pioneer satellite platform.

"This is what we've really been building towards for the past four years," said Even Rogers, True Anomaly's co-founder and CEO.

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