Vast has launched a new special programs division dedicated to national security space work, tapping former Slingshot Aerospace chief executive Melanie Stricklan to lead the effort. The company announced the move July 22, signaling a deeper push into defense and intelligence markets.
Stricklan, who co-founded space domain awareness firm Slingshot Aerospace and served 21 years in the US Air Force, joins Vast as senior vice president of special programs. She will build and oversee the division, which Vast said will “deliver space-based capabilities for the US national security enterprise, including the defense and intelligence communities.”
While Vast is best known for developing commercial space stations, the company announced plans in May to produce a line of high-power satellite buses. Chief executive Max Haot said at the time that low-cost, high-power satellites represent the future, with clear national security applications. In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the US intelligence community, invested in Vast last year. Space Force acquisition chief Major General Stephen Purdy also toured Vast’s Long Beach facilities as part of a commercial space industry assessment.
Haot has previously predicted that the Space Force will eventually deploy personnel to space, calling it “only a matter of time” before Guardians operate on orbit. The new division gives Vast a dedicated vehicle to pursue classified contracts as the Pentagon accelerates its reliance on commercial space capabilities for communications, surveillance, and missile tracking.
