SDA Layered Network of Military Satellites Now Known as “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture”
Date: January 23, 2023 The Space Development Agency’s resilient layered network of military satellites and supporting elements is now the “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture” or PWSA. The architecture, formerly known as the “National Defense Space Architecture,” was renamed to more specifically reflect the agency’s mission to deliver needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support…
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Space Development Agency’s satellite plan gets new name, but focus on speed stays
Date: January 23, 2023 | Outlet: Breaking Defense | By: Theresa Hitchens The name change for SDA’s seven-layer network of satellite and ground systems was approved by both Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli, and is designed to better reflect the network’s actual mission, SDA Director Derek Tournear told Breaking…
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REDSTONE ROUNDTABLE: Space Development Agency poised to move fast
Date: January 4, 2022 | Outlet: Redstone Rocket | By: Dr. Derek Tournear Team Redstone, Greetings from the Space Development Agency. As a new tenant, SDA is excited to join the Redstone Arsenal community. To clear up any confusion, while we do have a space mission, SDA is not part of U.S. Space Command. Three…
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How the Space Development Agency ‘could have died any number of ways’
Date: December 8, 2022 | Outlet: Defense News | By: Courtney Albon WASHINGTON — Just three years ago, the future of the U.S. Space Development Agency was uncertain. Two of its strongest advocates in the Pentagon had resigned, many viewed its mission as duplicative and confusing, and some speculated the organization, created to change the…
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The National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA): An Explainer
Date: December 5, 2022 | Outlet: Payload | By: Rachael Zisk Over the last few years, the space industry has grown by leaps and bounds, pushing our space capabilities forward at an unprecedented rate. While its weapons systems may be fast, the Pentagon’s procurement process isn’t exactly known for its speed. Acquisition of new technology…
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SDA Requests Information about Datalinks and Waveforms Application for Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES)
Response Date: Dec 15, 2022 The Space Development Agency (SDA) seeks U.S. industry feedback on advanced tactical datalink and waveform maturity, on-going work with other U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) agencies on datalinks and waveforms, and integrating datalinks and waveforms on future Tranches of the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). This would include risk reduction efforts…
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SDA Awards Prototype Agreement to Establish the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES)
All Tranche 1 Hardware and Integration Pieces Now on Contract Date: October 26, 2022 The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it has awarded a firm-fixed price Other Transaction prototype agreement, with a total potential value of approximately $200 million, to York Space Systems of Denver, Colorado, for the establishment of the Tranche 1 Demonstration…
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SDA Awards Prototype Agreement to Establish the NDSA Experimental Testbed (NExT)
Date: October 4, 2022 The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it has awarded one firm-fixed price Other Transaction prototype agreement, with a total potential value of approximately $176 million, to Ball Aerospace of Broomfield, Colorado, for the establishment of the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA) Experimental Testbed (NExT). The prototype agreement includes development, manufacture,…
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Space Development Agency transfers to USSF
Date: October 1, 2022 | Outlet: Space Force News | By: Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs The Space Development Agency (SDA) transferred to the U.S. Space Force (USSF) on October 1, 2022. “As we transfer to the U.S. Space Force, SDA looks forward to continuing our important work on the National Defense Space…
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SDA a ‘model’ that could shake up all space acquisition: Calvelli
Date: September 20, 2022 | Outlet: Breaking Defense | By: Theresa Hitchens AFA 2022 — The Space Development Agency’s rapid development-to-acquisition cycle could serve as a “model” for the rest of the Space Force acquisition community, the service’s acquisition executive said today — signaling the potential for a major shake-up in the Pentagon’s traditional approach that has…
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Constellations Podcast: Spiral Development, Technology Readiness Levels and Being a Constructive Disruptor
Date: August 17, 2022 | Outlet: Kratos Constellations Podcast At the recent Small Satellite Conference (SmallSat) in Logan, Utah, Space Development Agency (SDA) Technical Director, Dr. Frank Turner, spoke about the importance of the SDA’s National Defense Space Architecture Transport Layer to Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JACD2). While at SmallSat, Dr. Turner also spoke…
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U.S. touts progress in hypersonic arms race with China, Russia
Date: July 19, 2022 | Outlet: The Washington Post | By: Karoun Demirjian The Pentagon this week said it reached important new milestones as it scrambles to catch up with China and Russia in what has become a fraught arms race between the world’s most advanced militaries, conductinga successful hypersonic missile test and securing a…
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US Developing Satellite System to Track Hypersonic Weapons
Date: July 18, 2022 | Outlet: Associated Press | By: Lolita C. Baldor WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will spend $1.3 billion to develop advanced satellites that will be able to better track hypersonic missile threats, the Pentagon said Monday, announcing two new contracts that will put the detection and tracking systems in orbit by…
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Space Development Agency Makes Awards for 28 Satellites to Build Tranche 1 Tracking Layer
Date: July 18, 2022 | Outlet: DOD News National Defense Space Architecture Tracking Layer Accelerated WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the award of two prototype agreements with a total potential value over $1.3 billion for the establishment of the Tranche 1 (T1) Tracking Layer, providing the initial missile warning/missile tracking…
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SDA Announces Award for Tranche 1 Operations & Integration
General Dynamics Mission Systems (CAGE 1VPW8) of Fairfax, Virginia is awarded a contract in the amount of $324,516,613 ($162,954,122 Base + $161,562,491 Options) to establish the ground Operations and Integration (O&I) segment for Tranche 1 of the National Defense Space Architecture. This effort designs, develops, integrates, verifies and delivers integrated mission operations and support activities,…
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Two Military Satellites Just Communicated With Each Other Using Space Lasers
Date: May 19, 2022 | Outlet: Gizmodo | By: Passant Rabie Two satellites recently exchanged more than 200 gigabits of data over a distance of about 60 miles (100 kilometers) using laser communication in space. The achievement sets the stage for yet another satellite constellation. Satellites generally don’t communicate directly with each other. Instead, they…
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SPACECOM’s Gen. James Dickinson, SDA Director Derek Tournear Highlight Integration & Space Domain Awareness as Top Priorities
Date: May 19, 2022 | Outlet: GovConWire | By: Summer Myatt U.S. space agencies are prioritizing “integration by design” with mission partners, industry, academia and allied forces to tackle threats and deter adversaries in the largest and most highly contested domain today. Gen. James Dickinson, commander of the U.S. Space Command said the “partnered element”…
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Space Development Agency Makes Awards for Tranche 1 Transport Layer
Date: February 28, 2022 SDA has awarded three protoftype agreements worth approximately $1.8 billion to establish the foundation for Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL), a mesh network of 126 optically-interconnected space vehicles (SV) that will provide a resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport communication system, and ready for launch by September 2024. These agreements are awarded…
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Pentagon’s POET in space wraps orbital data fusion demo
Date: February 10, 2022 | Outlet: Breaking Defense | By: Theresa Hitchens WASHINGTON: A foundational effort to test software for the Space Development Agency’s planned National Defense Space Architecture satellites successfully has wrapped up an initial demonstration of an on-board, automated data fusion capability, agency and industry sources said. On-board, or “edge,” processing — rather than being done at…
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How the SDA’s Satellite Swarm Will Track Hypersonic Missiles Where Others Can’t
Date: January 12, 2022 | Outlet: Air Force Magazine | By: Amanda Miller A satellite constellation specially suited to tracking hypersonic missiles could be up and running by 2025. Director of the Space Development Agency Derek M. Tournear laid out the advantages of the Tracking Layer of SDA’s still-envisioned National Security Space Architecture in a…
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