MODERNIZING THE MILITARY'S SPACE ARCHITECTURE

WHO WE ARE

The Space Development Agency orchestrates the development and fielding of DoD’s future threat-driven National Defense Space Architecture. SDA uses novel approaches to accelerate the military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantage in space for national defense.

CAPABILITY LAYERS

TRANSPORT LAYER

SDA's Transport Layer will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and communications connectivity worldwide to a full range of warfighter platforms.

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BATTLE MANAGEMENT LAYER

SDA's Battle Management Layer will provide architecture tasking, mission command and control, and data dissemination to support time-sensitive kill chain closure at campaign scales.

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TRACKING LAYER

SDA's Tracking Layer will provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems.

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CUSTODY LAYER

SDA’s Custody Layer will provide 24/7, all-weather custody of time-sensitive, left-of-launch surface mobile targets to support targeting for advanced weapons.

 

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EMERGING CAPABILITIES (DETERRENCE) LAYER

SDA's Emerging Capabilities Layer will incubate new mission concepts. Initial focus will be to deter hostile action in deep space (beyond Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) up to lunar distances).

 

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NAVIGATION LAYER

SDA's Navigation Layer will provide alternate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) for Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments.

 

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SUPPORT LAYER

SDA's Support Layer will enable ground and launch segments to support a responsive space architecture.

 

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SDA Seeks Input on Tranche 1 Optical Communication Terminals

Original Response Date: April 30, 2021 The Space Development Agency (SDA) is seeking industry feedback on the design and development of optical communications terminals (OCTs) for the National Defense Space Architecture’s (NDSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL). We are looking for information on existing products, current development efforts and/or ongoing programs that address the Optical…

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SDA Seeks Input on Tranche 1 Transport Space Layer Space Vehicles

Original Response Date: April 23, 2021 The Space Development Agency (SDA) is seeking industry feedback on the design and development of mission-capable space vehicles for the National Defense Space Architecture’s (NDSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL), including feedback on industry’s ability to support a homogeneous constellation design to provide the full suite of Transport T1…

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‘Warfighter Council’ Guides Capability Development for Space Development Agency

Date: March 4, 2021 | Outlet: DOD News | By: C. Todd Lopez As the Space Development Agency builds out the National Defense Space Architecture, it looks to a biannual “warfighter council” to provide guidance about what is actually important to those who will use the systems, the agency’s director said today. “We want to make…

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EXCLUSIVE – SDA, NRO Mull Direct Satellite Links to Speed Imagery To Warfighters

Date: February 16, 2021 | Outlet: Breaking Defense | By: Theresa Hitchens WASHINGTON: The Space Development Agency (SDA) and the builder and operator of America’s spy satellites, the NRO, are discussing how to move imagery more rapidly from spy satellites to warfighters for targeting, SDA Director Derek Tournear tells me. The two agencies are working…

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SDA Releases Six Small Business Opportunities

Original Response Date: March 31, 2021 SDA is issuing six Small Business Opportunities (SBO) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, inviting submissions of innovative research proposals supporting the advancement of the National Defense Space Architecture. These six SBOs are issued under the SDA Broad Agency Announcement for…

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Direct From SmallSat Symposium, Dr. Derek M. Tournear, Director, Space Development Agency, Keynote Address

Date: February 11, 2021 | Outlet: SatNews I’m excited to talk about the Space Development Agency and what we have done over the past year and our year term and long term visions. I want to talk about the many products that we’re developing and delivering, so SDA is set up to exist and operate…

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SDA Releases Updated Systems, Technologies, and Emerging Capabilities (STEC) Broad Agency Announcement

Original Response Date: January 24, 2022 Through this updated STEC Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), SDA is soliciting executive summaries, white papers/abstracts, and full proposals for novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities that enable leap-ahead improvements for future tranches of currently planned National Defense Space Architecture capability layers.  SDA is also interested in ideas to…

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SDA Awards Launch Contract to SpaceX

Date: December 31, 2020 Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX), Hawthorne, California, has been awarded a $150,450,000 firm-fixed-price contract for launch services from Vandenberg Air Force Base for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport and Tracking Layer space vehicles. This award was made based on the Tranche 0 Launch request for proposal (HQ085021R0001) released Oct.…

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How The Pentagon’s True Space Maverick Became The Soldier’s Best Friend

Date: December 21, 2020 | Outlet: Forbes | By: Charles Beames This past week, the United States Space Force turned one year old. In the months leading up to the anniversary, the infant military branch started to form an image all its own. In July, the newly instituted Space Force unveiled its logo and new…

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falcon 9 launch

What’s With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?

Date: December 14, 2020 | Outlet: DOD News | By: C. Todd Lopez For centuries, the U.S. military has fought wars on land and sea. For that, America has the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps. Then, in 1909, the U.S. Army bought America’s first military aircraft with a $30,000 contract awarded to the…

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