The delay in the review, however, is not expected to impact the planned delivery schedule, an Air Force spokesperson said. That said, neither the Pentagon nor the NRO has revealed the hoped-for schedule.
By Theresa HitchensModernizing military simulation with open systems architecture
Best-of-breed common models and architecture enable virtual training and testing with the same data in a cyber-resilient posture.
“By the end of next year, we’ll have 126 Link 16 satellites that are operational on orbit,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear.
By Theresa Hitchens
SDA is asking for $357 million for FY25 launch services, down from the nearly $530 million in FY24. Those funds would pay to manifest four planned launches of the Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites in 2027.
By Theresa Hitchens
“We need a budget to be able to continue to fund this,” said Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear. “We always assume there will be a continuing resolution for a few months, but not six to 12.”
By Michael Marrow
SDA Director Derek Tournear said next year his organization will begin launching the Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites for regional communications, which also will carry a “navigation message” embedded in their venerable Link 16 data links.
By Theresa Hitchens “We truly have demonstrated that the vision of JADC2 and the vision of the Joint Fires Network is a reality and we can do it,” SDA Director Derek Tournear told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
The contract includes 36 Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Alpha satellites and supporting ground elements, as well as five years of operations and sustainment.
By Theresa Hitchens
Modernizing our supply chain is a national security imperative
Closing supply chain gaps in innovating technology will reposition the industrial base to be a strategic source of value.
“Here’s the beauty of the spiral development program. I don’t know what Tranche 3 looks like. All I know is it’s more of what was on Tranche 2, and it is most likely going to be new capabilities,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said Thursday. “I don’t want to define what those capabilities are now.”
By Theresa Hitchens
SDA plans to purchase and deploy a minimum of 54 space vehicles equipped with infrared sensors from up to three vendors under the new solicitation for Tranche 2 of its Tracking Layer constellation.
By Theresa Hitchens
While SDA plans to use lasers to connect its hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit to each other and to the ground, that technology remains in its infancy.
By Theresa Hitchens
The award to Northrop Grumman Space Systems has a total value of approximately $733 million; the Lockheed Martin award, approximately $816 million, the SDA release said. All totaled, the Space Development Agency up to now has awarded nearly $4.5 billion for the Transport Layer.
By Theresa Hitchens
The plan is to grant two contractors Other Transaction Authority awards to design and build the “Alpha” variant of SDA’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites, with delivery of the first four in time for a September 2026 launch.
By Theresa Hitchens The development and testing processes enabled by the new software environment will be game-changing, because in the end it will allow “satellites to be upgraded in space,” SAIC’s vice president for space, David Ray, told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens and Jaspreet Gill
Russian and Chinese anti-satellite tests are responsible for “pretty much 20 percent” of “conjunction” warnings, that is predictions that two space objects are likely to collide, in 2022, said the State Department’s Eric Desautels.
By Theresa Hitchens
