Orbital Operations growth playbook

Write the final values into the HTML (for example 10,000 lbf, 300 kg hosted, 10 km/s, with the numbers from the Flagship mission table) and let the animation count from those values or drop the animation. Do the same on Defender, Flagship and About, add a short text spec line under each hero ("10,000 lbf LH2/LOX, reusable, LEO to GEO in 6 hours") and an H1 on the homepage. Then check what Google, an AI assistant and a LinkedIn preview say about Astraeus.

Defense buyers, primes, investors and recruits increasingly meet a company through a search snippet, an AI summary or a forwarded link before they ever load the animation. Real numbers in the text give all of them the same, correct first impression, and the fix is a few hours of WordPress/Elementor work.

[ ] Home: Thrust "0 LBF" -> agreed figure
[ ] Home: Payload Hosting "0 KG" -> 300 kg (Flagship table)
[ ] Home: LEO > GEO > LEO "0.1 KG" -> 3,200 kg
[ ] Home: Delta-v "0 + KM/S" -> 10+ km/s
[ ] Defender and Flagship: same four stats
[ ] About: seed "$0 M" -> $8.8M; hot fires "0+" -> real count; floor space "0 K" -> real figure
[ ] Homepage H1
[ ] One-line text spec under each hero
[ ] Check with JavaScript off and in a link preview

• Some numbers are not yet cleared for public release

  Publish the figures already public (Typhon thrust, the Flagship table) and leave the rest as text such as "LEO to GEO in hours".

• Losing the animation

  Keep it, but animate from the real value rather than to it.

• Your websiteHomepage (fetched twice, November 9, 2026): the four hero stats read "0 LBF" thrust, "0 KG" payload hosting, "0.1 KG" LEO > GEO > LEO delivery and "0 + KM/S" delta-v in the page text, and none of the real figures appear. The same zeros are on /defender/ and /flagship/; the About page shows seed funding as "$0 M", engine hot fires as "0+" and floor space as "0 K". The homepage has no H1.Source
• Your websiteFlagship page (model 10K300): a mission table with hosted payload 300 kg at 10 km/s; LEO→GEO with LEO return 3,200 kg, 8.8 km/s, 6.0 hrs; LEO→GEO one way 6,600 kg; LEO→MEO with return 7,000 kg in 3.5 hrs; LEO→TLI with return 7,500 kg in 3 days. Defender (6K100) gives no numeric specs beyond the zeroed stats, and neither page offers a spec sheet download.Source
• Your websiteThrust is stated two ways: the Typhon page gives 10,000 lbf for both Defender and Flagship (LH2/LOX, dual turbo-expander, "FULLY REUSABLE"), as does the August 2025 funding release; the CEO's essays "Why Liquid Hydrogen" and "Why Space Needs Defending" give 15,000 lbf (with 450 s Isp and over 10 km/s delta-v).Source

Check the WordPress "Discourage search engines" setting, the All in One SEO robots settings for the homepage and templates, and the response headers. Remove the block, request indexing in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and submit the sitemap. Then confirm which pages are indexed.

Every other idea in this playbook depends on people finding the site; this is a settings change, not a project.

• The flag was intentional during a redesign

  Confirm the redesign is live, then lift it page by page.

• PageSpeedHomepage, November 9, 2026: mobile performance 71, desktop 92; lab mobile LCP 5.8 s, 15.1 MB page weight with about 1 MB of image savings and 1.6 s of render-blocking requests. Real Chrome visitors pass Core Web Vitals (LCP 2.46 s, INP 59 ms, CLS 0.01). SEO 69, with Lighthouse reporting "Page is blocked from indexing"; accessibility 89 with 4 issues (contrast, heading order, unnamed links, no main landmark).Source
• Your websiteSitemap (checked November 9, 2026): 15 pages and 3 posts: home, About, Defender, Flagship, Defense, Commercial, Infrastructure, Typhon, Boreas, Approach, Technology, Newsroom, Contact and two legal pages. No careers page, FAQ, glossary, customer stories, mission pages or downloadable documents. robots.txt allows crawling.Source

Agree the current design figure, update every page and post to it, and add a one-line note on the essays where the design has changed ("Updated: Astraeus now uses a 10,000 lbf engine"). Keep a single spec source that the website, decks and press kit all draw from.

One number, repeated everywhere, is what search snippets and AI summaries pick up; a dated note turns a contradiction into evidence of iteration.

• The figure changes again after testing

  Date the spec line so updates look planned.

• Your websiteThrust is stated two ways: the Typhon page gives 10,000 lbf for both Defender and Flagship (LH2/LOX, dual turbo-expander, "FULLY REUSABLE"), as does the August 2025 funding release; the CEO's essays "Why Liquid Hydrogen" and "Why Space Needs Defending" give 15,000 lbf (with 450 s Isp and over 10 km/s delta-v).Source
• Your websiteFunding release (August 7, 2025): $8.8M seed led by Initialized Capital with Harpoon Ventures, DTX Ventures, Rebel Fund and TRAC VC, to fund a "Cryogenic Demo" and "Engine Test"; the company is "building for defense first", then refuelling and logistics; Astraeus moves payloads from LEO to direct GEO insertion and returns to refuel.Source

Repoint every Rippling link to the Greenhouse board (or close the Rippling board and redirect it), remove the second careers link from the homepage, and add a /careers/ page on the company's own domain that lists open roles, the Long Beach and Barstow sites and what a new engineer will build in year one.

A small team hiring hardware engineers competes with SpaceX, Rocket Lab and True Anomaly in the same city; losing interested readers to an empty board is the cheapest leak to close.

• Two ATS tools used for different roles

  Pick one public board and route all links to it.

• Your websiteCareers: the site navigation links to a Greenhouse board with five open Long Beach roles, but the "we're hiring" links at the end of both CEO essays go to a Rippling board that says "There are currently no open roles." The homepage links to both boards.Source
• HiringOpen roles on Greenhouse, all onsite in Long Beach: Avionics Mechanical Engineer, Structures Design Engineer ("Responsible Engineer for major vehicle subsystems"), Turbomachinery Mechanical Design Engineer ("pumps, turbines, and rotating assemblies that power our cryogenic propulsion system"), a general "Rockstar" post, and a Summer 2027 Engineering Internship posted October 19, 2026 (10-12 weeks onsite; Formula SAE, rocketry and CubeSat team experience preferred). The posts describe the company as "building the future of dynamic space maneuvering".Source

Publish one short, dated post per milestone with a photo or clip, backdated to the real date where appropriate, then add a press kit (logos, approved photos, boilerplate, spec sheet, media contact) and an email signup. Show dates on every post.

Program managers, journalists and investors check a newsroom for momentum; a quiet newsroom suggests a quiet company even when the hardware is moving fast.

• Sensitive defense details

  Post the fact of the milestone, not the technical data.

• Your websiteNewsroom: three posts (the $8.8M seed release and two CEO essays), no dates shown, no press kit, media contact or newsletter signup. The post sitemap's latest change is December 17, 2025 and the RSS feed's last post is August 19, 2025; the hot fire, Barstow, NASA and Space Force milestones have no posts.Source
• Your websiteAbout page timeline: incorporated Nov 2024; Y Combinator Jan 2025; "$1.4B in LOIs" Mar 2025; NASA partnership and seed May 2025; full-pressure hot fire Oct 2025; a 2-acre Barstow test facility Mar 2026; two Space Force challenge wins Jun 2026. Roadmap: first integrated engine hot fire Q1 2027, engine qualification Q4 2027, Astraeus Kicker first mission Q2 2028, Defender first mission Q4 2028, Flagship first mission Q2 2030. Eleven team roles shown, including Head of BD and Strategy, Head of Test & Ops and Head of Mission Ops.Source
• PressOn July 29, 2026 the company announced on X that it had been selected in the U.S. Space Force's Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge (SpaceWERX), a feasibility track that can lead to a Phase II prototype for contested-orbit missions. The newsroom has no post about it.Source

Add a five-field form: organisation type (government, prime, commercial operator, investor, press, candidate), mission interest (defense, transport to GEO, hosted payload, refuelling), timeframe, name and work email. Route government and prime inquiries to BD within one business day, press to the press kit, candidates to careers. Keep the email address as a fallback.

A form captures every inquiry, sorts it, and shows which mission type pulls most interest, which feeds the BD pipeline and the roadmap.

• Spam

  Add a honeypot field and work-email check.

• Sensitive requirements sent through the form

  Ask only for interest and contact details, and say so on the form.

• Your websiteEvery call to action ("Contact Us", "Learn how to partner and get started with Orbital Operations") is a mailto link to one general inbox; /contact/ has no form, phone or address, and nothing asks which mission or organisation the visitor represents.Source
• Competitor researchPortal Space Systems homepage: "Faster. Farther. First."; Supernova is solar thermal, up to 6 km/s, repositions in hours rather than weeks, first flight 2028 on Falcon 9; a $45M STRATFI award and a $50M Series A; "Request mission information" and "Discuss a Supernova mission" buttons to a contact page, and a "Download the Supernova overview" PDF.See the research Source
• Competitor researchImpulse Space, "Mobilizing Space": Helios moves mass from LEO to GEO "in under a day", with a GEO rideshare flying in 2027. True Anomaly calls itself "the only defense technology company focused exclusively on space defense", with its Jackal vehicle, a VICTUS HAZE mission begun June 2026, a $650M Series D and a "Schedule a Demo" page.See the research Source

Create a two-page spec sheet each for Defender and Flagship (thrust, delta-v, payload cases, mission times, propellant, reuse, roadmap dates) and a one-page capability statement (what the company does, past performance such as the NASA Space Act Agreement and Space Force challenge wins, facilities in Long Beach and Barstow, contact). Gate nothing; offer them next to the inquiry form.

Spec sheets get forwarded to the people who never visit the site, and a capability statement is the format government buyers expect from a small vendor.

• Export-controlled detail

  Publish only figures already public on the site.

• #3 Pick one thrust figure: the Typhon page says 10,000 lbf, the CEO's essays say 15,000

• Your websiteFlagship page (model 10K300): a mission table with hosted payload 300 kg at 10 km/s; LEO→GEO with LEO return 3,200 kg, 8.8 km/s, 6.0 hrs; LEO→GEO one way 6,600 kg; LEO→MEO with return 7,000 kg in 3.5 hrs; LEO→TLI with return 7,500 kg in 3 days. Defender (6K100) gives no numeric specs beyond the zeroed stats, and neither page offers a spec sheet download.Source
• Your websiteSitemap (checked November 9, 2026): 15 pages and 3 posts: home, About, Defender, Flagship, Defense, Commercial, Infrastructure, Typhon, Boreas, Approach, Technology, Newsroom, Contact and two legal pages. No careers page, FAQ, glossary, customer stories, mission pages or downloadable documents. robots.txt allows crawling.Source
• Competitor researchPortal Space Systems homepage: "Faster. Farther. First."; Supernova is solar thermal, up to 6 km/s, repositions in hours rather than weeks, first flight 2028 on Falcon 9; a $45M STRATFI award and a $50M Series A; "Request mission information" and "Discuss a Supernova mission" buttons to a contact page, and a "Download the Supernova overview" PDF.See the research Source

Build a simple calculator: pick origin and destination orbit, enter payload mass, see the vehicle, transfer time and whether it returns to LEO, with a "discuss this mission" button that pre-fills the inquiry form. Interpolate only between the published cases and label results as indicative.

Interactive tools turn browsing into a specific request, give BD a qualified lead with the mission already described, and show which missions buyers actually want.

• Visitors treat results as a quote

  Label results as indicative and route to a conversation.

• #6 Replace the mailto-only "Contact Us" with a short mission inquiry form routed by mission type

• Your websiteFlagship page (model 10K300): a mission table with hosted payload 300 kg at 10 km/s; LEO→GEO with LEO return 3,200 kg, 8.8 km/s, 6.0 hrs; LEO→GEO one way 6,600 kg; LEO→MEO with return 7,000 kg in 3.5 hrs; LEO→TLI with return 7,500 kg in 3 days. Defender (6K100) gives no numeric specs beyond the zeroed stats, and neither page offers a spec sheet download.Source
• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source

Add a test tracker to the Approach page: number of hot fires, cumulative seconds, latest test date and a 20-second clip per campaign, plus captions on the existing gallery. Post each campaign to LinkedIn and X and the newsroom.

For a pre-flight hardware company, a steady drumbeat of real tests is the strongest proof to buyers, investors and recruits, and the footage already exists.

• A failed test on camera

  Publish after review; anomalies explained well also build trust.

• #1 Put Astraeus's real numbers in the page: the homepage tells every crawler, AI assistant and link preview "0 LBF" of thrust

• Your websiteAbout page timeline: incorporated Nov 2024; Y Combinator Jan 2025; "$1.4B in LOIs" Mar 2025; NASA partnership and seed May 2025; full-pressure hot fire Oct 2025; a 2-acre Barstow test facility Mar 2026; two Space Force challenge wins Jun 2026. Roadmap: first integrated engine hot fire Q1 2027, engine qualification Q4 2027, Astraeus Kicker first mission Q2 2028, Defender first mission Q4 2028, Flagship first mission Q2 2030. Eleven team roles shown, including Head of BD and Strategy, Head of Test & Ops and Head of Mission Ops.Source
• Your websiteHomepage (fetched twice, November 9, 2026): the four hero stats read "0 LBF" thrust, "0 KG" payload hosting, "0.1 KG" LEO > GEO > LEO delivery and "0 + KM/S" delta-v in the page text, and none of the real figures appear. The same zeros are on /defender/ and /flagship/; the About page shows seed funding as "$0 M", engine hot fires as "0+" and floor space as "0 K". The homepage has no H1.Source
• Competitor researchImpulse Space, "Mobilizing Space": Helios moves mass from LEO to GEO "in under a day", with a GEO rideshare flying in 2027. True Anomaly calls itself "the only defense technology company focused exclusively on space defense", with its Jackal vehicle, a VICTUS HAZE mission begun June 2026, a $650M Series D and a "Schedule a Demo" page.See the research Source

Write one page per job for GEO operators with a worked example from the Flagship table (for example repositioning a 3,200 kg satellite and returning in 6 hours), the steps from first call to mission, what the operator provides, and the roadmap dates. Use it in outreach to operators that signed letters of intent.

Commercial buyers act on a business case; showing the timeline and process makes the $1.4B in LOIs easier to convert into contracts.

• Defense-first focus diluted

  Keep commercial pages short and reuse the same vehicle story.

• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source
• Your websiteFlagship page (model 10K300): a mission table with hosted payload 300 kg at 10 km/s; LEO→GEO with LEO return 3,200 kg, 8.8 km/s, 6.0 hrs; LEO→GEO one way 6,600 kg; LEO→MEO with return 7,000 kg in 3.5 hrs; LEO→TLI with return 7,500 kg in 3 days. Defender (6K100) gives no numeric specs beyond the zeroed stats, and neither page offers a spec sheet download.Source
• Competitor researchImpulse Space, "Mobilizing Space": Helios moves mass from LEO to GEO "in under a day", with a GEO rideshare flying in 2027. True Anomaly calls itself "the only defense technology company focused exclusively on space defense", with its Jackal vehicle, a VICTUS HAZE mission begun June 2026, a $650M Series D and a "Schedule a Demo" page.See the research Source

With signatories' permission, publish an anonymised breakdown: number of LOIs, by buyer type (GEO operator, government, infrastructure developer), by mission (repositioning, hosted payload, refuelling) and by region, plus one or two quotes attributed by role. Refresh it as LOIs convert.

Buyers follow buyers: seeing operators like them already lined up reduces the risk of being first, without naming anyone who has not agreed.

• Breaching confidentiality

  Publish only what each signatory approves.

• Your websiteAbout page timeline: incorporated Nov 2024; Y Combinator Jan 2025; "$1.4B in LOIs" Mar 2025; NASA partnership and seed May 2025; full-pressure hot fire Oct 2025; a 2-acre Barstow test facility Mar 2026; two Space Force challenge wins Jun 2026. Roadmap: first integrated engine hot fire Q1 2027, engine qualification Q4 2027, Astraeus Kicker first mission Q2 2028, Defender first mission Q4 2028, Flagship first mission Q2 2030. Eleven team roles shown, including Head of BD and Strategy, Head of Test & Ops and Head of Mission Ops.Source
• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source

Write a fair, sourced guide comparing propulsion approaches by thrust, delta-v, response time, reuse, refuelling and mission life, with a table and the cases where each wins. Name approaches, not companies, unless quoting their public claims with links.

Comparison content is what buyers, analysts and AI assistants look for when shortlisting, and an honest guide from the company with the hardest propulsion choice earns trust.

• Seen as attacking rivals

  Compare approaches, cite public claims, and show where others win.

• #3 Pick one thrust figure: the Typhon page says 10,000 lbf, the CEO's essays say 15,000

• Competitor researchPortal Space Systems homepage: "Faster. Farther. First."; Supernova is solar thermal, up to 6 km/s, repositions in hours rather than weeks, first flight 2028 on Falcon 9; a $45M STRATFI award and a $50M Series A; "Request mission information" and "Discuss a Supernova mission" buttons to a contact page, and a "Download the Supernova overview" PDF.See the research Source
• Competitor researchImpulse Space, "Mobilizing Space": Helios moves mass from LEO to GEO "in under a day", with a GEO rideshare flying in 2027. True Anomaly calls itself "the only defense technology company focused exclusively on space defense", with its Jackal vehicle, a VICTUS HAZE mission begun June 2026, a $650M Series D and a "Schedule a Demo" page.See the research Source
• Your websiteBoreas page: patent-pending cryogenic management based on reverse turbo-Brayton principles, developed with NASA under a Space Act Agreement, for "multi-year loiter" and refuelling by water electrolysis, with no boil-off, cooling or duration figures. The CEO's hydrogen essay calls keeping hydrogen cold for years the hardest engineering problem and describes a water-fed tanker as a permanent LEO refuelling station.Source

Compress and resize the hero and gallery images, serve modern formats, lazy-load below-the-fold media, and defer non-critical CSS and scripts from Elementor. Re-test and keep the page under 3 MB.

A lighter page loads quickly for every audience the site serves, and the fix is routine for a WordPress site.

• Image quality loss

  Keep originals for the press kit.

• PageSpeedHomepage, November 9, 2026: mobile performance 71, desktop 92; lab mobile LCP 5.8 s, 15.1 MB page weight with about 1 MB of image savings and 1.6 s of render-blocking requests. Real Chrome visitors pass Core Web Vitals (LCP 2.46 s, INP 59 ms, CLS 0.01). SEO 69, with Lighthouse reporting "Page is blocked from indexing"; accessibility 89 with 4 issues (contrast, heading order, unnamed links, no main landmark).Source

Correct the image links, rewrite alt text with real descriptions, add the H1, name every icon link, fix heading order and contrast, and add a main landmark. Add a pre-publish checklist.

A precise website supports the claim of precise engineering, and accessible pages work for screen readers and search alike.

• Design changes from contrast fixes

  Adjust text colour only.

• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source
• PageSpeedHomepage, November 9, 2026: mobile performance 71, desktop 92; lab mobile LCP 5.8 s, 15.1 MB page weight with about 1 MB of image savings and 1.6 s of render-blocking requests. Real Chrome visitors pass Core Web Vitals (LCP 2.46 s, INP 59 ms, CLS 0.01). SEO 69, with Lighthouse reporting "Page is blocked from indexing"; accessibility 89 with 4 issues (contrast, heading order, unnamed links, no main landmark).Source

Use "Orbital Operations" in every page title and the site name; add Organization schema (via All in One SEO) with the legal name, logo, founding date, Long Beach address and sameAs links to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Y Combinator and Greenhouse; make the social bios match; and add a one-line "Orbital Operations (orbitalops.tech)" boilerplate to every release.

Consistent naming and structured data help search and AI systems resolve the right company, so press and awards accumulate on one entity.

• "Orbital Ops" is the internal shorthand

  Keep it in copy, use the full name in titles and markup.

• #2 Find and lift whatever tells Google the homepage is "blocked from indexing"

• Your websiteNaming: the homepage title is now "Orbital Operations | Rapid-Response Space Mobility" (it was "Home - Orbital Ops"), but inner pages are still titled "<page> - Orbital Ops", for example "Why Liquid Hydrogen - Orbital Ops". Searches for the name also return an unrelated email company called OrbitalOps at orbitalops.net. The site runs WordPress with Elementor and the All in One SEO plugin.Source
• PressOn July 29, 2026 the company announced on X that it had been selected in the U.S. Space Force's Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge (SpaceWERX), a feasibility track that can lead to a Phase II prototype for contested-orbit missions. The newsroom has no post about it.Source

Partner with five to eight Southern California university rocketry, Formula SAE and CubeSat teams: a Barstow test day (watch a hot fire, tour the stands), a short design challenge, and a fast-track interview for the internship. Turn the best interns into the full-time pipeline for avionics, structures and turbomachinery roles.

Student hardware teams are exactly the profile the posts ask for, and a test-site visit is a recruiting advantage larger, more guarded competitors rarely offer.

• Site safety and access rules

  Viewing area only, with a safety briefing and export-control check.

• #4 Point the "we're hiring" links at the board that actually has jobs

• HiringOpen roles on Greenhouse, all onsite in Long Beach: Avionics Mechanical Engineer, Structures Design Engineer ("Responsible Engineer for major vehicle subsystems"), Turbomachinery Mechanical Design Engineer ("pumps, turbines, and rotating assemblies that power our cryogenic propulsion system"), a general "Rockstar" post, and a Summer 2027 Engineering Internship posted October 19, 2026 (10-12 weeks onsite; Formula SAE, rocketry and CubeSat team experience preferred). The posts describe the company as "building the future of dynamic space maneuvering".Source
• Your websiteAbout page timeline: incorporated Nov 2024; Y Combinator Jan 2025; "$1.4B in LOIs" Mar 2025; NASA partnership and seed May 2025; full-pressure hot fire Oct 2025; a 2-acre Barstow test facility Mar 2026; two Space Force challenge wins Jun 2026. Roadmap: first integrated engine hot fire Q1 2027, engine qualification Q4 2027, Astraeus Kicker first mission Q2 2028, Defender first mission Q4 2028, Flagship first mission Q2 2030. Eleven team roles shown, including Head of BD and Strategy, Head of Test & Ops and Head of Mission Ops.Source

One short post a week from the founders: a test result, a design trade-off, a hiring need or a view on contested orbit. Every fourth post becomes a newsroom article. Track followers, inquiries and applications.

Defense-tech buyers, investors and engineers follow founders more than company pages, and a weekly cadence keeps a pre-flight company visible between big milestones.

• Cadence slips during test campaigns

  Keep four drafts in reserve.

• #5 Post the year of milestones the newsroom is missing: hot fire, Barstow, NASA and the Space Force awards

• PressOn July 29, 2026 the company announced on X that it had been selected in the U.S. Space Force's Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge (SpaceWERX), a feasibility track that can lead to a Phase II prototype for contested-orbit missions. The newsroom has no post about it.Source
• Your websiteNewsroom: three posts (the $8.8M seed release and two CEO essays), no dates shown, no press kit, media contact or newsletter signup. The post sitemap's latest change is December 17, 2025 and the RSS feed's last post is August 19, 2025; the hot fire, Barstow, NASA and Space Force milestones have no posts.Source

Publish a hosted-payload page: payload mass, power and data envelope (as far as public), target orbits, mission dates, a refundable reservation or letter-of-intent step, and a payload user guide outline. Start with government and research payloads that need to move between orbits, which a fixed rideshare cannot offer.

Early reservations turn the first missions into revenue and evidence, and give program offices a concrete way to buy before the vehicle flies.

• Schedule slip

  Refundable reservations and honest date ranges.

• #7 Publish downloadable Defender and Flagship spec sheets and a one-page capability statement

• Your websiteAbout page timeline: incorporated Nov 2024; Y Combinator Jan 2025; "$1.4B in LOIs" Mar 2025; NASA partnership and seed May 2025; full-pressure hot fire Oct 2025; a 2-acre Barstow test facility Mar 2026; two Space Force challenge wins Jun 2026. Roadmap: first integrated engine hot fire Q1 2027, engine qualification Q4 2027, Astraeus Kicker first mission Q2 2028, Defender first mission Q4 2028, Flagship first mission Q2 2030. Eleven team roles shown, including Head of BD and Strategy, Head of Test & Ops and Head of Mission Ops.Source
• Your websiteFlagship page (model 10K300): a mission table with hosted payload 300 kg at 10 km/s; LEO→GEO with LEO return 3,200 kg, 8.8 km/s, 6.0 hrs; LEO→GEO one way 6,600 kg; LEO→MEO with return 7,000 kg in 3.5 hrs; LEO→TLI with return 7,500 kg in 3 days. Defender (6K100) gives no numeric specs beyond the zeroed stats, and neither page offers a spec sheet download.Source
• Competitor researchImpulse Space, "Mobilizing Space": Helios moves mass from LEO to GEO "in under a day", with a GEO rideshare flying in 2027. True Anomaly calls itself "the only defense technology company focused exclusively on space defense", with its Jackal vehicle, a VICTUS HAZE mission begun June 2026, a $650M Series D and a "Schedule a Demo" page.See the research Source

Model a price per mission type (reposition, LEO-GEO transfer, disposal, propellant delivery) as an indicative range, with the assumptions shown, and publish it as "from" pricing or a range on the Commercial and Infrastructure pages. Use it to test which services operators would pre-commit to.

Reusable, refuelable vehicles make per-mission pricing possible where expendable tugs cannot, and a published range qualifies buyers and anchors the conversation.

• Pricing too early locks the company in

  Publish ranges labelled indicative and dated.

• #10 A GEO operator page that prices the "Move, Extend, Retire" decision in hours, not months

• Your websiteBoreas page: patent-pending cryogenic management based on reverse turbo-Brayton principles, developed with NASA under a Space Act Agreement, for "multi-year loiter" and refuelling by water electrolysis, with no boil-off, cooling or duration figures. The CEO's hydrogen essay calls keeping hydrogen cold for years the hardest engineering problem and describes a water-fed tanker as a permanent LEO refuelling station.Source
• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source
• Your websiteFunding release (August 7, 2025): $8.8M seed led by Initialized Capital with Harpoon Ventures, DTX Ventures, Rebel Fund and TRAC VC, to fund a "Cryogenic Demo" and "Engine Test"; the company is "building for defense first", then refuelling and logistics; Astraeus moves payloads from LEO to direct GEO insertion and returns to refuel.Source

Publish a partners page for primes, payload makers and allied space agencies: what Orbital Operations brings (high-thrust mobility, cryogenic management, test site), the teaming models it offers (subcontract, payload integration, joint proposals), facilities and a dedicated contact. Back it with a two-page teaming brief for BD meetings.

Primes look for differentiated subcontractors when bidding; making the offer explicit puts the company on their shortlists ahead of competitions.

• Primes capture the customer relationship

  Keep direct government work alongside teaming.

• #7 Publish downloadable Defender and Flagship spec sheets and a one-page capability statement

• PressOn July 29, 2026 the company announced on X that it had been selected in the U.S. Space Force's Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge (SpaceWERX), a feasibility track that can lead to a Phase II prototype for contested-orbit missions. The newsroom has no post about it.Source
• Your websiteFunding release (August 7, 2025): $8.8M seed led by Initialized Capital with Harpoon Ventures, DTX Ventures, Rebel Fund and TRAC VC, to fund a "Cryogenic Demo" and "Engine Test"; the company is "building for defense first", then refuelling and logistics; Astraeus moves payloads from LEO to direct GEO insertion and returns to refuel.Source
• Your websiteApplication pages: Defense promises repositioning in "HOURS, not months" and "YEARS of persistent on-orbit operations"; Commercial offers Move, Extend, Retire and Deploy to satellite operators with "no launch windows"; Infrastructure covers cargo, refuelling and depots for "defense, commercial, and allied operators". None names a price, process, timeline or customer. On the Typhon page the Defense and Commercial images both link to /defender/, and alt text reads "Orbital Aapplications" and "Orbital Application Infrustructure".Source

Publish a short quarterly brief from open sources: notable rendezvous, refuelling and repositioning events, what changed, and what it means for response time and mobility. Keep it factual and sourced; end with how mobility changes the options.

A recurring, citable brief makes the company a go-to source for reporters and program staff, and keeps the case for orbital mobility in front of buyers between product milestones.

• Seen as alarmist

  Stick to sourced facts and measured language.

• #5 Post the year of milestones the newsroom is missing: hot fire, Barstow, NASA and the Space Force awards

• Your website"Why Space Needs Defending" (July 22, 2025): cites China's SJ-21 relocating a GEO satellite in 2022 and being refuelled by SJ-25 in 2025, and Russia's COSMOS 2588 passing near a US satellite about every 4 days; ties Astraeus to the Space Force's Space Warfighting Framework; ends with a "we're hiring" link.Source
• Your websiteNewsroom: three posts (the $8.8M seed release and two CEO essays), no dates shown, no press kit, media contact or newsletter signup. The post sitemap's latest change is December 17, 2025 and the RSS feed's last post is August 19, 2025; the hot fire, Barstow, NASA and Space Force milestones have no posts.Source

Run an open afternoon with the mayor's office: shop-floor tour, a hardware display, short talks on careers and suppliers, and a sign-up for internships and local machining partners. Invite local press and the city's economic development team.

Local hiring is the company's constraint, and city partners amplify events to exactly the engineers, technicians and suppliers nearby.

• Distraction from test schedule

  Pick a date between campaigns.

• PressThe City of Long Beach welcomed the company's first North Long Beach facility on August 22, 2025 as part of "Space Beach", with the mayor saying it will create jobs.Source
• HiringOpen roles on Greenhouse, all onsite in Long Beach: Avionics Mechanical Engineer, Structures Design Engineer ("Responsible Engineer for major vehicle subsystems"), Turbomachinery Mechanical Design Engineer ("pumps, turbines, and rotating assemblies that power our cryogenic propulsion system"), a general "Rockstar" post, and a Summer 2027 Engineering Internship posted October 19, 2026 (10-12 weeks onsite; Formula SAE, rocketry and CubeSat team experience preferred). The posts describe the company as "building the future of dynamic space maneuvering".Source