Podcast: Interview With Space Development Agency Director
Date: November 10, 2020 | Outlet: Aviation Week Network | By: Jen Dimascio, Steve Trimble, and Lee Hudson Space Development Agency (SDA) director Derek Tournear joins Aviation Week editors on Check 6 to discuss how its system of space tracking and transport satellites will revolutionize the U.S. military and the challenges it will face along the…
Gotta go fast: How America’s Space Development Agency is shaking up acquisitions
Date: November 9, 2020 | Outlet: C4ISRNet | By: Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — In March 2019, the Pentagon established a new organization to buy space systems: The Space Development Agency. But this led to some confusion. After all, the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center already bought the bulk of the military’s satellites…
DoD’s Space Development Agency shows how fast the FAR can be
Date: November 3, 2020 | Outlet: Federal News Network | By: Jared Serbu When it came time for the brand new DoD modernization organization charged with rapidly innovating in the space domain to award one of its first big contracts, you might expect they’d turn to a new, en-vogue acquisition mechanism like other transaction agreements (OTA)…
SDA Releases Broad Agency Announcement for Participation in DoD’s SBIR/STTR Program
Original Response Date: Sept. 30, 2021
SDA release a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to launch its participation in DoD’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.
SDA RFI Seeks Industry Feedback on Tranche 1
Responses are due November 13, 2020
SDA released a Request for Information (RFI) for Tranche 1 of the National Defense Space Architecture, scheduled to launch in late FY2024.
SDA Awards Contract for Integration of Tranche 0
SDA announced October 22 a task order against an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for integration of the first generation, Tranche 0, of the National Defense Space Architecture. The performer will provide overall technical leadership for integrating space and ground elements for Tranche 0, the Warfighter Immersion Tranche. The performer will also execute on-orbit tests and experiments that culminate in a Capstone event, expected in FY23, which demonstrates potential capabilities to the Warfighter.
Mission Assurance: NRL Space Research Group to Validate SDA Satellite Interoperability
WASHINGTON – A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory research group will use its background in space system development to help ensure future satellites have the capability to work together.
Announced Aug. 31, NRL’s work supports the Space Development Agency’s two multi-million dollar contract awards for the development of the first generation of the Transport Layer, representing the first major and highly-visible step toward developing the National Defense Space Architecture’s inaugural tranche, entitled Tranche Zero.
SDA RFP Seeks Industry Proposals for Launch Services
Response Date: November 9, 2020 SDA posted a Request for Proposal (RFP) for launch services to deliver its Transport and Tracking Tranche 0 capabilities to orbit. The scope of the RFP includes delivery of up to 28 spacecraft– SDA’s initial Transport and Tracking satellites. The launch requires delivery to two circular 950 km near-polar orbits,…
SDA Awards Contracts for the First Generation of the Tracking Layer
SDA announced October 5 two contract awards for the first generation of the Tracking Layer. These awards represent the next major and highly visible steps toward developing the National Defense Space Architecture’s inaugural tranche (called Tranche 0). Once fully operational, the SDA Tracking Layer will consist of a proliferated heterogeneous constellation of Wide Field of…
Space Development Agency Praised as Change Agent in Pentagon Procurement
Date: September 17, 2020 | Outlet: Space News | By: Sandra Erwin Telesat’s Don Brown: “The core challenge of the national security space architecture is not really engineering, it’s really culture and acquisition.” WASHINGTON — “We couldn’t believe they went so fast,” Telesat executive Don Brown said of the Space Development Agency’s first major contract…