Vast, a commercial space station and spacecraft developer, established a new division focused on national security space projects. The company hired Melanie Stricklan, co-founder and former CEO of space domain awareness firm Slingshot Aerospace, as senior vice president of special programs to lead the division. The move signals Vast's pivot toward serving U.S. defense and intelligence community needs in low Earth orbit and beyond.
Stricklan brings 21 years of Air Force experience to the role. The special programs division will develop space-based capabilities for national security applications, though Vast has not detailed specific technologies. The company announced in May that it was developing high-power satellite buses, which executives linked to defense and intelligence interest alongside commercial uses.
Vast's national security focus aligns with existing backing from In-Q-Tel, the venture fund affiliated with U.S. intelligence agencies, which invested in the company last year. Space Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, then head of service procurement, toured Vast's Long Beach facilities as part of a broader survey of commercial space vendors.
CEO Max Haot has previously indicated the Space Force could eventually station personnel on Vast's platforms, though he noted such arrangements remain unconventional within the service. Haot stated last fall that the timeline for Space Force presence in space is uncertain but inevitable, framing Vast's work on commercial stations as a foundation for that shift.