Don't know whether the Air Force ever tosses money at long shots, but this would appear to be one.

To be clear, I'm not anywhere near the aerospace industry, and have no actual knowledge other than what the media gives me -- but the pictures on their web site look like someone's garage rather than a professional aerospace lab.

BTW, it looks like that contract was (a) very short lived, and (b) not aimed at the orbital stuff. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP_Aerospace#Airships