Dubbed “Dragoon,” the satellite was one of the multiple payloads launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the company’s Transporter-14 smallsat rideshare mission, according to SDA. The spacecraft is the first of 12 prototype satellites developed by York Space Systems under SDA’s Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) program to go on orbit.

In 2022, York Space Systems received a $200 million other transaction agreement from SDA to develop and deliver 12 T1DES platforms that were slated for launch beginning in fiscal 2026. However, the company accelerated delivery of the first payload to prepare it for Monday’s mission “in response to an identified agency need,” York said in a statement.

“The Dragoon mission showcases exactly why our rapid mission delivery model matters,” Melanie Preisser, York’s general manager and executive vice president, said in a statement. “When SDA needed this capability sooner, we didn’t just accelerate, we delivered. That kind of responsiveness is what today’s defense posture demands.”

SDA did not provide many details about the specific demonstration that the recently deployed Dragoon satellite will conduct on orbit, but noted in a statement that the payload will enable “tactical data delivery to warfighter platforms to support capabilities like targeting, missile warning and tracking of advanced missile threats” and “support integration with tactical [SATCOM] system capabilities from low Earth orbit.”

Broadly, birds developed under the T1DES program will augment the Tranche 1 transport layer of the agency’s future mega-constellation known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) and inform requirements for future programs.

“T1DES will demonstrate mission payloads and configurations for potential proliferation through future tranches of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture in an effort to lower latency of tactical data delivery and enhance beyond line-of-sight targeting capability,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “We’re very pleased to see this prototype space vehicle launch four months ahead of the original T1DES baseline schedule and before the first launch of Tranche 1’s operational space vehicles.”

The PWSA is a planned LEO constellation comprising hundreds of satellites carrying data relay, communications, missile warning and missile-tracking capabilities that will be launched in increments — known as tranches — every two years. The first operational batch of PWSA payloads known as Tranche 1 were expected to launch in September 2024, but supply chain bottlenecks and recent leadership instability have forced the agency to push the mission to late summer 2025.

The remaining 11 T1DES satellites are on track to launch sometime in fiscal 2026, SDA said in a statement. Once deployed, the constellation “will conduct demonstrations and experimentation of TACSATCOM, advanced waveforms, and Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) capabilities, which are key for future connectivity of joint warfighters around the globe,” according to the agency.

SDA is also pursuing a second batch of experimental birds for Tranche 2 of the transport layer — an effort known as Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES). The agency intends to leverage its new vendor pool established by the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (HALO) program to contract the effort.

The post Space Development Agency accelerates launch of first experimental tactical SATCOM satellite appeared first on DefenseScoop.

As part of the HALO pool of pre-approved vendors, the selected businesses will now be able to compete for demonstrations and experimentation task orders that will support future tranches of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). Each company has received an other transaction agreement (OTA) with an initial $20,000 to compensate for administrative and other expenses, according to the agency.

HALO task orders will focus on “rapid end-to-end mission demonstrations with launch of two identical satellites 12-18 months after award,” according to SDA.

The first prototype orders for HALO will be for the Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) project — intended to augment the Tranche 2 transport layer of communications and data relay satellites by demonstrating proliferation of future tactical data links and optical communications missions.

“Through HALO, SDA has an even faster and more flexible contracting mechanism in place to compete and award T2DES and other SDA demonstration projects,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “We believe HALO will also increase the pool of performers capable of bidding on future SDA programs, including participation in layers of future tranches.”

The PWSA is expected to comprise hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) that carry critical warfighting capabilities for data transport and missile defense missions. SDA is fielding the constellation in tranches. It plans to launch the first operational batch of satellites in early 2025, with each subsequent tranche going on orbit every other year.

The agency is also leveraging the PWSA to test out emerging capabilities on orbit through a range of experimental projects, including T2DES and the Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program, among others.

Although SDA has not shied away from giving contracts to defense space newcomers, many of the awards for the PWSA have gone to well-known players like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. On the other hand, HALO looks to open doors for non-traditional and commercial companies to work with the agency and mature their technologies.

The companies chosen for the initial HALO vendor pool are: Airbus U.S. Space & Defense; Apex Technology; ST Space Mobile USA; Astro Digital; Capella Space; CesiumAstro; Firefly Aerospace; Geneva Technologies; Impulse Space; Kepler Communications; Kuiper Government Solutions; LeoStella; Momentus Space; Muon Space; NovaWurks; SpaceX; Turion Space; Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems; and York Space Systems.

Only firms that have been selected to participate in the vendor pool will be able to compete for the prototyping efforts under HALO. SDA expects to award multiple contracts each year for the effort and will review the pool periodically, according to the agency.

The post SDA establishes pool of 19 vendors for future space demonstration projects appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The SDA is looking for feedback from industry to inform its plans for the Transport Layer Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) satellite set, according to a request for information posted on Sam.gov on Wednesday. The T2DES space vehicles will augment the agency’s Tranche 2 transport layer — a constellation of 216 satellites carrying communications and data relay capabilities for warfighters that are slated to launch no later than September 2026.

The agency estimates that T2DES will be “approximately 20 space vehicles configured into several variants,” according to the RFI. It wants to survey whether or not critical payloads will be ready for launch by 2027, and it plans to award a contract for T2DES in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.

Responses to the RFI are due June 15.

The T2DES and Tranche 2 transport layer will be part of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which is expected to include hundreds of spacecraft that carry technologies for satellite communications, data transport, missile warning and missile tracking in low-Earth orbit. The agency plans to begin launching PWSA’s first mission-capable constellation — Tranche 1 — in 2024, followed by Tranche 2.

“Tranche 2 Transport Layer proliferates and expands upon the capabilities fielded by Tranche 1, providing additional Link-16, IBS-L and TACSATCOM coverage. The T2DES program will demonstrate capabilities that show potential for warfighter utility and proliferation in future tranches,” the RFI stated. The program is similar to the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) program, for which SDA awarded York Space Systems a contract worth up to $200 million to develop 12 experimental satellites for the Tranche 1 transport layer.

The agency is considering various “specialized payloads” for the T2DES system, including translator satellites that are able to connect with existing and planned commercial constellations, as well as other spacecraft operating in low-Earth, medium-Earth and geosynchronous orbit.

Officials plan for the PWSA’s transport layer to eventually consist of hundreds of satellites able to quickly transmit and receive data via cross-links — a network that is considered a foundational component to the Defense Department’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) effort.

While SDA uses communications and networking standards to ensure interoperability between different vendors, the agency is interested in translator satellites that include “novel and innovative optical cross-connect architectures with consideration for enterprise resilience and reliability,” the RFI noted.

The organization is also keen on a space-based capability for protected tactical waveforms (PTW) — communications technology that is highly resistant against jamming attacks from adversaries.

“This includes a software defined radio (SDR) capable of running PTW plus the required RF [radio frequency] and antenna components. The SDR would be capable of operation in low earth orbit (LEO) and compensate for the dynamics and environment of a space based PTW capability,” the RFI said.

Developing SATCOM systems that are resilient against jamming has been an initiative for the Space Force under its Protected Anti-Jam Satellite Communications (PATS) family of systems. Space Systems Command is currently developing and testing prototypes of a space-based PTW capability as part of the effort.

“The protected tactical waveform (PTW) capability that SDA is seeking applies to satellites in low earth orbit. Operating in these orbits will require some differences that are addressed in this RFI. That being said, SDA will leverage much of the SSC investment in PTW through commonality in ground infrastructure, industrial base expertise, and software algorithms,” an SDA spokesperson told DefenseScoop in an email.

Other specialized payloads listed in the Space Development Agency’s RFI include those able to run the Link-16 MIDS Modernization 2 (MMI2) payload in low-Earth orbit and another that can run a “directional line of sight” waveform — a classified waveform developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory.

Along with experimental technologies, the T2DES space vehicles will include common “baseline communications payloads” that will ensure interoperability across SDA’s entire constellation of satellites. This includes the Ka-band link, S-band, SDA optical communications terminal and SDA Navigation (S-NAV)/ALT-NAV — an alternative precision, navigation and timing (PNT) capability.

Updated on June 5, 2023, at 12:05 PM. This story has been updated to include comment from a Space Development Agency spokesperson about SDA’s interest in protected tactical waveform capabilities.

The post SDA seeks industry input on next batch of experimental communications satellites appeared first on DefenseScoop.