IRVINE, Calif. – April 2026 – Terran Orbital, a leader in satellite-based solutions and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, announced that the spacecraft supporting the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Oracle-Prime (Oracle-P) mission has successfully completed a major program milestone, marking continued progress toward one of the nation’s most advanced cislunar space domain awareness missions.
Oracle-Prime is designed to demonstrate the ability to detect, identify, and maintain custody of objects operating in cislunar space—the vast region between Earth and the Moon. The mission will help establish critical capabilities needed to support future national security, civil, and commercial operations as activity beyond Earth orbit continues to expand.
In December 2025, the Oracle-Prime team successfully completed the program’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR), validating the spacecraft and mission architecture while confirming the program remains on track toward delivery. The milestone was achieved through close collaboration between Advanced Space, the mission’s prime contractor, Terran Orbital, which is providing the spacecraft platform, and Quantum Space, which is delivering the mission payload.
“Oracle-Prime represents another important step in extending America’s capabilities beyond traditional Earth orbit,” said Peter Krauss, President and Chief Executive Officer of Terran Orbital. “Cislunar space is rapidly becoming a new operational frontier, and missions like this are laying the groundwork for how we navigate, monitor, and secure that environment. Reaching these milestones underscores the importance of proven spacecraft systems that can deliver performance and reliability in increasingly complex mission profiles.”
The mission will operate in one of the most technically demanding regions of space. Cislunar operations require spacecraft to navigate a complex gravitational environment influenced by both the Earth and the Moon while operating at distances far beyond traditional Earth-orbiting satellites. Oracle-Prime is expected to demonstrate technologies that will improve space domain awareness, enabling the detection and tracking of known and unknown objects throughout the Earth-Moon system.
Terran Orbital’s spacecraft is designed to provide the reliability, performance, and operational flexibility necessary for these challenging conditions. The company continues to leverage its experience developing highly capable small satellite platforms for civil, commercial, and national security customers.
The Oracle-Prime mission represents another milestone in Terran Orbital’s growing portfolio of lunar and cislunar missions. The company previously designed and built the CAPSTONE spacecraft, which became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully operate in lunar orbit and has demonstrated critical navigation, communications, and autonomous operations technologies supporting NASA’s Artemis program.
As development progresses, Terran Orbital remains committed to delivering innovative spacecraft solutions that enable the next generation of exploration, national security, and scientific missions beyond Earth orbit.
