Space Development Agency announces mission expansion at Grand Forks Air Force Base
Date: August 7, 2023 | Outlet: Grand Forks Herald | By: Korrie Wenzel GRAND FORKS — Sen. John Hoeven said the expansion of Space Development Agency operations at Grand Forks Air Force Base will put North Dakota “at the center of U.S. military operations” in the coming years. Hoeven, R-N.D., and others spoke Monday during…
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SDA Makes Award for Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications (BMC3) Application Factory
Date: June 8, 2023 The Space Development Agency (SDA) confirmed an award under Other Transaction Authorities, with a total potential value of approximately $64 million, to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to establish the Battle Management, Control and Communications (BMC3) software development and hosting environment for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). SAIC will be…
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Space Development Agency Successfully Launches Tranche 0 Satellites
Date: April 2, 2023 | Outlet: DOD News SDA delivers first 10 satellites on-orbit, two-and-a-half years from award to launch The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the successful initial launch of Tranche 0 (T0) of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the Transport and Tracking Layer satellites that will demonstrate the low-latency communication links…
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SDA Posts Solicitation for Sabre Payloads
Response Date: April 17, 2023 SDA seeks industry solutions for a payload system that will add multiple new mission capability demonstrations to the NExT (experimental testbed) constellation. The payload system will deliver three (3) independent functional capabilities, collectively referred to as the Sabre payload: This solicitation is for the design, development, fabrication, integration, test, and…
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Military agency praised for leading the way on laser communications
Date: February 9, 2023 | Outlet: Space News | By: Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — By requiring suppliers of laser terminals to comply with a common set of standards, the U.S. Space Development Agency has helped propel the industry forward, executives said Feb. 8 at the SmallSat Symposium in Mountain View, California. The Space Development Agency…
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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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