SPEED. DELIVERY. AGILITY.

WHO WE ARE

Speed. Delivery. Agility.

Recognized as the Department of Defense's constructive disruptor for space acquisition, the Space Development Agency (SDA) will quickly deliver needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support terrestrial missions through development, fielding, and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. SDA capitalizes on a unique business model that values speed and lowers costs by harnessing commercial development to achieve a proliferated architecture and enhance resilience. SDA will deliver a minimum viable product - on time, every two years- by employing spiral development methods, adding capabilities to future generations as the threat evolves.

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.

LEARN MORE

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.

LEARN MORE

TRACKING LAYER

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

LEARN MORE

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.

 

LEARN MORE

EMERGING CAPABILITIES LAYER

SDA’s Emerging Capabilities (EC) Cell provides a foundation for new mission concepts that deliver quantifiable warfighter benefits. EC will transition technologies and capabilities into future tranches by working closely with the military services and DoD research community to fly and evaluate select experiments and assess their potential to enable mission accomplishment.

 

LEARN MORE

NAVIGATION LAYER

The Navigation Layer will establish a GPS-independent navigation capability for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) using optical inter-satellite ranging, and optical space to ground links.

 

LEARN MORE

SUPPORT LAYER

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

 

LEARN MORE

Space Development Agency Successfully Completes Space to Ground Transmission from Link 16 Tactical Data Network

Demonstration included active and passive Link 16 network entry, transmitting messages to and from low Earth orbit to terrestrial radios Date: Nov. 28, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it successfully demonstrated the first-ever Link 16 network entry through space to ground connection from low Earth orbit (LEO) to a…

Read Full Story
Link 16 is a tactical military data network, used by US and NATO air-, sea- and land-base platforms. (Viasat image.)

SDA gets OK to begin limited testing of data satellites Link 16 nodes

Date: October 26, 2023 | Outlet: Breaking Defense | By: Theresa Hitchens WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency (SDA) finally can begin testing Link-16 signals from its Transport Layer of data relay satellites in low Earth orbit, having just received approval from a key international regulatory body — although the agency remains caught up in a long-running Defense Department…

Read Full Story

Space Development Agency Makes Awards to Build 100 Alpha Variant Satellites for Tranche 2 Transport Layer

Agency builds Tranche 2 team to produce second of three variants of data relay and tactical communication space vehicles Date: October 30, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced awards of two Other Transaction Authority (OTA) prototype agreements with a total value of approximately $1.3 billion to build and operate the…

Read Full Story
tranche graphic_T0

Space Development Agency Completes Second Successful Launch of Tranche 0 Satellites

SDA delivers 13 additional satellites on orbit for Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture demonstrations Date: September 2, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the second successful launch of space vehicles from the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The launch included Transport and Tracking Layer satellites that will demonstrate low-latency tactical data…

Read Full Story

Space Development Agency Makes Awards to Build 72 Beta Variant Satellites for Tranche 2 Transport Layer

Date: August 21, 2023 Agency selects initial Tranche 2 team members to produce first of several variants of data relay and tactical communication space vehicles WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the awards of two prototype agreements with a total value of approximately $1.5 billion to build and operate the Tranche…

Read Full Story

The Space Force Is Launching Its Own Swarm of Tiny Satellites

Date: August 14, 2023 | Outlet: Wired | By: Ramin Skibba FOUR YEARS AFTER it was formed, the US Space Force has begun deploying its first satellite network. For the military, it marks a significant shift from relying on a handful of powerful, expensive satellites to a swarm of smaller, cheaper ones. From the Pentagon’s perspective, they’ll be a…

Read Full Story
grand forks herald article

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…

Read Full Story
pwsa logo

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…

Read Full Story

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…

Read Full Story

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…

Read Full Story