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EMERGING CAPABILITIES

The role of SDA’s Emerging Capabilities (EC) Cell is to provide a foundation for new mission concepts that deliver quantifiable warfighter benefits. The main focus is transitioning technologies and capabilities into future Tranches of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The Emerging Capability Cell does this by working closely with the military services and DoD research community to fly and evaluate select experiments and assess their potential to serve warfighter needs as approved and documented by SDA’s Warfighter Council.

The goal is to establish an agile and iterative development process that places new mission capability and enabling technologies in the hands of warfighters based on operationally relevant exercises, experiments and demonstrations on a recurring two-year basis.

The Emerging Capabilities Cell is currently preparing to fly a variety of regional Combatant Command and joint service experimental payloads including:

  • Alternative navigation,
  • Radio frequency (RF) signal detection, location and identification
  • Tagging and tracking,
  • Integrated Broadcast System, and
  • Tactical communications satellite (TACSATCOM) support to the warfighter.