Orbital Operations

High Thrust Space Vehicles for Satellite Defense

Y CombinatorWinter 2025ActiveIndustrialsAviation and Space

What they do

Problem

Critical satellites like GPS and military communications are vulnerable to adversarial threats in orbit and lack rapid, high-thrust defensive response capability.

Solution

A reusable high-thrust space vehicle using traditional cryogenic propulsion with a cryogenic management system to enable much higher in-space thrust for satellite defense missions.

Who it's for

Government and defense organizations and satellite operators responsible for protecting high-value national security satellites.

Founders

Ben Schleuniger

Founder

Ben Schleungier is the Co-founder and CEO of Orbital Operations. He started his career at NASA in propulsion before moving on to SpaceX and then as an early employee at Relativity Space. He owned the fluid systems for the TM1 rocket, the complex heat exchangers on the AeonR engine, and built the Components team and the Integrated Design and Analysis teams from the ground up. Ben has an deep understanding of rocket engine design and analysis and building high performance engineering teams.

Ross Doherty

Co-Founder & COO

Ross is the Co-founder and COO of Orbital Operations. He has spent his entire career in the aerospace industry, from Aerojet Rocketdyne, to Blue Origin, and most recently Relativity Space, where he owned all turbomachinery manufacturing and assembly for the Aeon-R engine. He was also responsible for the Flight Termination System test and qualification program for the TM-1 rocket. Ross has deep expertise in complex manufacturing processes, assembly, test, and chemical propulsion development.