Space Boss: USSF Rocket Cargo Logistics Modeling and Simulation

The United States Space Force (USSF) is leading a logistics revolution with the Rocket Cargo initiative, unlocking the potential to transport up to 100 tons of critical cargo and equipment anywhere on the planet within previously unimaginable tactical timelines. This unprecedented capability is poised to transform military supply chains, ensuring rapid, flexible, and resilient global sustainment for the Department of Defense (DoD). As commercial space companies push the boundaries of rapid-launch technology, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and USSF are seizing the opportunity to leverage these advancements as a leased service—avoiding costly rocket development while expediting global mobility at speeds never before possible. Unlike traditional airlift operations, Rocket Cargo offers a faster, more responsive, cost-effective alternative to current logistics methods, fundamentally changing how the DoD will deliver warfighter support and humanitarian aid worldwide. Logistics speed is the backbone of military supremacy—because, in war, speed equals survival. The nation that conquers this technology first doesn’t just gain an advantage—they win. Period. To compliment AFRL’s Rocket Cargo Vanguard and Operation OURIANA, our Phase I STTR effort proposes to analyze, document, and map the logistics steps for Rocket Cargo from request to final payload delivery (e.g. “pre-launch logistics”) with a general-purpose modeling language, such as Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The model will be a basis for future Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Digital Engineering (DE) activities. It will set the stage for our Phase I analysis of commercial and open-source tools for developing Rocket Cargo simulations. We will develop Phase I simulations focusing on specific problem sets prioritized in processing Rocket Cargo, such as “cargo delivery temporal bottlenecks caused by traffic congestion at Cape Canaveral during periods of construction deliveries.” We expect future simulations to be required for intermediary launch CONOPS, such as launching from Earth and landing, loading, and relaunching from a lunar-based launch site. The primary focus of this effort is to refine and optimize payload processing workflows to enhance logistics efficiency, operational agility, and mission readiness. Rather than developing software, this study will leverage existing modeling tools and simulation platforms to identify, evaluate, and streamline critical logistics processes at the Joint Space Mobility Center and pre-launch logistics pipeline. This effort will result in models, simulations, a tabletop exercise (coined Space Boss), and a final feasibility report to help the USSF obtain Space Cargo logistics IOC requirements.