CLASSIFIED
BLACKJACK ACES-2
US Military Technology Demonstrator · DARPA / Blue Canyon Technologies
Right now
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Blackjack Aces-2, one of only four satellites remaining from DARPA's originally planned 20-satellite Blackjack constellation, tests whether cheap commercial satellite hardware — built on the same Blue Canyon buses used across dozens of other small-satellite missions — can genuinely substitute for expensive, exquisite military reconnaissance satellites through networked numbers rather than individual capability.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 318–320 mi (512–514 km)
- Inclination
- 97.6°
- One orbit
- 94.7 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 56955
- Int’l designator
- 2023-084Z
- Launched
- 2023
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- BLACKJACK ACES-3US Military Technology Demonstrator (Scaled-Down Constellation)
- CHAMRAN-1Technology demonstration
- CHECKMATE 1US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 10US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 2US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 3US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)