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
Date: September 2, 2025 | Outlet: Defense News | By: Courtney Albon In a series of trials this summer, the Space Development Agency and its industry team demonstrated two-way optical communications between a satellite and an aircraft in flight — a milestone for the agency’s efforts to establish a secure, high-speed, communications network that can…
July 8, 2025 WASHINGTON, DC – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the selection of Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo as the new Deputy Director of SDA, where he supports the director in the daily management of the organization and the execution of the development, fielding, and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Sandhoo…
Date: July 1, 2025 | Outlet: Defense One | By: Amber Corrin The Space Development Agency’s experimental satellite program just kicked off with a record-fast shift into full operating mode, offering what officials see as a promising start for an ambitious military space strategy. The Dragoon spacecraft, launched June 23, is the first of 12…
Date: June 24, 2025 SDA delivers first of 12 risk reduction satellites on orbit for experimentation and demonstration WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Space Development Agency today announced the successful launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, of the first prototype among 12 risk reduction satellites comprising the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) constellation that…
Date: May 8, 2025 | Outlet: Space News | By: Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is ramping up efforts to bring commercial technology into military systems, betting that private-sector speed and innovation can help modernize U.S. defense programs, especially in space. This push could increase the demand for so-called “mission integrators”—engineering firms that specialize…
Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $54,908,584 cost-plus-award-fee contract for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche Three program integration effort. This contract provides for system engineering and integration support activities enabling the delivery of the tranche 3 space vehicles for transport, tracking, and custody layers and their integration within the proliferated warfighter space…
Date: March 3, 2025 | Outlet: Defense Acquisition University Magazine | By: Emily Ashcom and Benjamin Tyree Christopher Glista, Chief of Contracts for the Space Development Agency (SDA), is responsible for the daily operation of SDA’s contracting cell and advises agency leadership on acquisition planning and provides contracting support for SDA business operations. Under his…
Posted On: January 15, 2025 Original Date Offers Due: January 14, 2026 Through this updated Systems, Technologies, and Emerging Capabilities (STEC) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), SDA is soliciting executive summaries, invited proposal abstracts, and invited proposals for novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities that enable leap-ahead improvements for future tranches of the agency’s Proliferated…
Date: Dec. 6, 2024 | Outlet: FFI Norwegian Foreign Defense Research Establishment | By: FFI Staff Report ‘This is a game-changing capability, and we’re just getting started!’ says Major Tyler Levy at FFI, leader of a test where Norwegian F-35s and P-8s communicated over a Link 16 network via satellites in space. ‘The unique thing…
Date: Nov. 12, 2024 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced a contract for Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure (AFCGI) to support demonstrations and potential future operations under the agency’s Advanced Fire Control (AFC) effort. The cost-plus award fee contract worth a maximum of approximately $117 million was awarded to Kratos Technology…