Under development by L3Harris, ATLAS is the Pentagon’s latest attempt to modernize antiquated systems used by the Space Force to track satellites, spacecraft and other objects on orbit. The software-based platform is the foundation for a broader effort to replace the 1980s-era Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) computer system.

“ATLAS is going very well, we expect to go into operational acceptance testing this year,” Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command (SSC), told reporters last week during a media roundtable at the annual Space Symposium.

ATLAS is designed to integrate and disseminate a range of data types — including space domain awareness, command and control, and intelligence — with the help of automation capabilities to give operators a complete picture of the space domain. The system is one piece of the service’s Space Command and Control initiative, started after the previous SPADOC replacement known as the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System (JMS) was terminated in 2018 due to poor performance.

Although it’s now on track, ATLAS was considered one of the service’s most beleaguered programs by former space acquisition lead Frank Calvelli. The Space Force initially wanted the system operational by 2022, but software integration challenges and lack of trained operators have plagued ATLAS during its development, forcing the service to delay decommissioning of SPADOC.

Furthermore, the program has notched multiple Category 1 deficiencies — designated for problems that could cause serious harm or damage — as well as less severe Category 2 deficiencies.

To tackle some of ATLAS’s key challenges, Calvelli last year directed that the program be moved from SSC — the service’s acquisition arm — to Mission Delta 2-Space Domain Awareness. The organization is one of the newest integrated mission deltas under Space Operations Command (SpOC) and brings the mission area’s personnel, training elements and acquisition professionals for maintenance and sustainment under one commander.

Garrant commended the decision, as it allowed guardians to better understand the complexities of the system and put urgency on developers to deliver capabilities on time.

“The connective tissue with the operators and getting them early time on the system, and even closer connections at low echelons of command between the developer and the operator — that’s probably the biggest success we’ve seen in all of our mission deltas and all of our sustainment squadrons,” he said. “It’s been incredibly successful, I think you’re going to see more of that.”

The new approach was also key for L3Harris in its work to get ATLAS across the finish line, because the company is now working closely with operators to test and integrate capabilities through an agile development cycle, Charles Clarkson, vice president and general manager for the company’s space superiority and imaging division, told DefenseScoop.

To prepare for IOC this year, SpOC is conducting quarterly capability integration tests (SCITs) where test squadrons, space operators and L3Harris work together to analyze ATLAS and deliver additional capability. The service recently completed its tenth SCIT in March.

“We test it in a development environment, and then we also test it in an operational environment, with the operators then being able to provide that real-time feedback to the software development team,” Clarkson said in an interview on the sidelines of Space Symposium. “It’s all about creating closeness to the mission, and then being able to incorporate those requirements to keep pace with the threat.”

L3Harris received a $53 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to develop ATLAS in 2018. Since then, the company has received multiple extension awards from the Space Force for the program — including a $90 million follow-on contract in January to “meet ATLAS initial operational capability and achieve software stability,” according to the Defense Department.

The contract extension will also give L3Harris the opportunity to improve ATLAS with additional tools and technologies, Clarkson added.

“It’s also looking at then, how do we build on [and] augment capability on top of that foundational layer that was primarily giving operators and warfighters a modern toolset, and just scaling so that we could keep pace with the exponential launches in space,” he said.

Clarkson emphasized that even with the delays, L3Harris did not have to pare back any of the capabilities for ATLAS. The company is also resolving the remaining deficiencies identified during SCITs, he said. An SSC spokesperson confirmed to DefenseScoop that all of the program’s Category 1 deficiencies will be resolved “prior to trial period entry.”

“I don’t look at it and say, ‘Hey, we had a dozen, two dozen, three dozen [Category 1 deficiencies] coming out of a SCIT,’ as a negative thing. What that really means is we’ve actually seen an increase in recent SCITS, and that’s really driven by the fact that it’s becoming very, very real,” Clarkson said. “That’s exactly what we want to see in agile software development, is you identify those deficiencies and you burn them down over the next sprint.”

The post Space Force on track to deliver modernized space monitoring software in 2025 appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Col. Rich Kniseley, director of the Commercial Space Office (COMSO), told reporters Thursday that the service will stand up CASR pilots across three mission areas in 2025. One program will focus on small launch and is anticipated to kick off before the end of fiscal 2025, while the other two — satellite communications, and tactical surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking — are expected to be ready by December, Kniseley said.

The program’s growth comes just two years after the Space Force first conceived it as its own version of the Air Force’s Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Under CASR, the service can contract space-based services from commercial vendors during peacetime, which could then be used to augment and support military operations in the event of crisis or conflict.

In March, the Space Force launched CASR’s pilot phase when it awarded contracts to four commercial vendors to provide space domain awareness capabilities. The agreements cover an initial three-month period of performance and include peacetime and pre-priced surge capabilities, as well as the ability to conduct wargames with vendors, Kniseley said.

“What that allowed us to do is to start exercising some of the processes while we are still working in the background with some of the more challenging aspects of CASR, whether that’s prioritizing capabilities for US government use [or] denial of service,” he said during a media roundtable at the annual Space Symposium.

For the small launch pilot, the office will look to commercial launch providers already part of the Space Force’s Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4) program, which focuses on fast-turnaround launches of small payloads, Kniseley said. COMSO is partnering with Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) directorate and the Space Safari program office for the pilot.

“It’s formulating a framework around launch, but small launch specifically,” Kniseley said. “Think of a call-up at a given point and some of the ongoing pieces. It will be a tabletop exercise more than anything, instead of an operational call.”

The pilot will align closely with the Space Force’s ongoing Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) initiative that aims to improve the service’s ability to respond to new threats on-orbit, such as by reducing time taken to launch payloads or prepositioning assets in space, Kniseley said.

He added that while the small-launch effort isn’t quite ready to serve as a mechanism for TacRS, the program’s managers are learning from COMSO’s pilot — including supply chain management and how it’s building the contracts to “surge and scale.”

Similarly, COMSO is looking to leverage the pool of vendors under the Space Force’s larger Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) program for its upcoming surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking pilot, Kniseley said.

Broadly, the service’s TacSRT effort allows combatant commanders to quickly and directly purchase unclassified data from imagery and sensors collected by commercial satellites — but COMSO’s pilot will be framed through the CASR concept.

“What if we were to put a company on to provide X number of products during peacetime? If I want to scale that up, and as things go on and I’m going to be getting more and more requirements from the combatant commands — that’s the type of model and framework I’m seeing for that,” he said.

And while Kniseley didn’t provide specifics for the service’s SATCOM pilot plans, he said the mission area was the focus for the office’s first CASR wargame completed recently. The event was critical, as it gave COMSO a slew of action items and topics it needs to work on with commercial vendors as it builds out the program.

During the wargame, Kniseley exercised a forceful activation of CASR — representing a real-life scenario in which industry would be required to turn off capabilities to other customers to fully support U.S. military operations. The event allowed companies to coordinate together, while also giving them the opportunity to think about how they would work with their investors and other customers.

“I viewed that as a complete success because it wasn’t 100% successful,” Kniseley noted. “What I wanted to do was have nothing but commercial capability or vendors in there, and I wanted to start exercising the framework for CASR. I really wanted to key in on some of the aspects that we have questions on, and to have that dialog back and forth.”

As COMSO prepares to launch the three new pilot programs, the office is also conducting a study with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the legal community on financial protection options for CASR vendors, Kniseley said. The results of the study should be released in the next few months to provide guidance on how the office plans to proceed, he added.

Overall, Kniseley said his office’s efforts to integrate commercial capabilities on a larger scale have garnered positive support from Congress. Before receiving $40 million in funds from the yearlong continuing resolution passed in March, lawmakers added $50 million to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for commercial space services, which was critical to getting COMSO initiatives like CASR off the ground.

He also pointed to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order calling for prioritization of commercial capabilities within the Defense Department as validation for COMSO’s work.

“[When] I look at the executive order, I look at it more as an exclamation point on a lot of the things that we’re doing,” he said. “But it will require additional budget. It will also require additional resources, and that usually means people, as well.”

The post Space Force plans to kick off 3 additional commercial reserve fleet ‘pilots’ in 2025 appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Under the five-year, $99.7 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract, Anduril will integrate its Lattice software into the SSN to create a mesh network that will enable autonomous processing and distribution of data from the architecture’s vast network of military space sensors. U.S. Space Command has directed the firm to complete deploying the capability by the end of 2026, according to a company press release.

“With Lattice, Anduril is providing a cutting-edge, resilient mesh communications architecture that links sensors, data repositories, and command and control nodes with low-latency, high-bandwidth connections,” the release stated.

The SSN is a global network of ground-based sensor systems distributed worldwide that’s able to detect, identify and catalog objects in space — ranging from space debris, expended rocket boosters and satellites. Upgrading the legacy architecture is a key priority for Spacecom, which relies on the technology for its space domain awareness mission to track objects in orbit and determine whether they are a threat to U.S. systems.

Anduril’s mesh network is called the Space Domain Awareness Network (SDANet) and is designed to replace the Space Defense Interface Network (SDIN) — a point-to-point network architecture used for SSN sensors. The network is about four decades old and outdated in terms of how quickly and efficiently it can move data.

“​​SDANet will replace legacy communications systems with a resilient mesh network capable of facilitating seamless sensor-to-sensor tasking, rapid data sharing with mission partners, and unparalleled flexibility to onboard new systems or partners swiftly,” the Anduril release stated. “The platform’s flexibility provided a solution for today and tomorrow’s threats and is basis for Program of Record memorandum to implement across the entire Space Surveillance Network.”

Anduril has been working on modernizing the SSN with Space Systems Command since 2022, when it began deploying SDANet at select sites in Maui, Hawaii. The contractor is also in discussions to integrate with other projects across the Space Force’s space domain awareness architecture, according to the company.

“Our commitment to meeting the SDANet mission requirements ensures that the U.S. Space Force has the tools to maintain space domain awareness and warfighting capabilities, both now and in the future,” the release stated.

The post Anduril receives nearly $100M deal to modernize Space Surveillance Network appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Companies that are part of the Space Force’s Commercial Integration Cell (CIC) will now be able to share and receive information at the top secret security clearance level for the service’s space domain awareness (SDA) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, according to officials. With the addition of five new CIC members, a total of 15 vendors are now part of the effort.

Started as a pilot in 2015, CIC allows companies that have existing contracts with the U.S. government to receive top secret security clearance and insight into the Space Force’s current operations and planning. Along with the new SDA and ISR mission areas, the effort has previously focused on satellite communications and imagery. 

A key benefit to the program is back-and-forth information sharing between the service and vendors already providing capabilities for CIC’s mission areas, Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, commander of Space Forces — Space, said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute.

“What that means is, when they’re a member of the CIC, they literally could have a person from their company, as long as they were cleared, sit in the [Combined Space Operations Center] with us,” Schiess said. “Most of them don’t tend to do it. Some come for a little bit, they get their folks trained, and then they go back. But they have the connections there.”

At the same time, CIC serves as a venue for commercial industry to provide feedback to the Space Force about business perspectives, capability requirements and technology solutions, according to officials.

The CIC is one of several ongoing efforts at the Pentagon that are intended to help the department leverage a fast-growing commercial space industry for warfighting missions. One of the key issues for commercial firms has been the ability to receive updated and rapid information about current and ongoing threats in the space domain — which has historically been highly classified.

Schiess did not immediately provide the names of the five companies that have been added as CIC partners, but noted that the Space Force is in the process of approving two more vendors for the cohort by early 2025 — bringing the total number of firms to 17.

Vendors in the program are also encouraged to collaborate and share data with each other, he said. For example, after Russia’s 2022 cyberattack on satellites operated by Viasat, a CIC member, the Space Force and other companies in the program received information about the attack.

“If there were things that that company found out, then they could also harden their ability to do that,” Schiess said. “We could provide information to them on maybe different satellites that are close to them, that might be listening satellites and things. And so we can provide that information to them on a fast basis.”

The post Space Force expands top secret intel-sharing program with industry to support new mission areas appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Slingshot Aerospace announced Wednesday that it has partnered with DARPA to create Agatha — an AI-enabled system able to distinguish potentially harmful space vehicles within large satellite constellations. The company recently demonstrated Agatha’s ability to identify multiple “non-nefarious outlier” satellites operating in real-world commercial constellations, according to a Slingshot news release.

First tapped by DARPA for the project in 2023, the company has since trained Agatha on over six decades of simulated constellation data created by the firm. With the program completed as of January, Slingshot is actively engaging with U.S. government agencies and commercial space companies to discuss integrating Agatha into their respective space domain awareness missions.

“As space activity shifts from satellites owned by a small number of operators to massive constellations operated by an array of owners, the need for transparency increases,” Dylan Kesler, director of data science and AI at Slingshot Aerospace, said in a statement. “The ability to quickly identify anomalies — whether a malfunctioning spacecraft or an intentionally nefarious ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ — is an increasingly important aspect of maintaining safety and security in space and on Earth.” 

To categorize satellites in orbit, Agatha’s AI specifically uses inverse reinforcement learning techniques to evaluate an object’s behavior and identify its intentions. According to Slingshot, the AI automatically takes in space data and works to identify anomalies in real-time without a cue from operators.

Not only does it determine exceptions in maneuvers, but also aims to discern the strategic reasoning for why a satellite may be acting strangely, the company stated.

“Identifying malfunctioning or potentially nefarious objects and their objectives within large satellite constellations is a complex challenge that required us to reach beyond traditional approaches and develop a novel and scalable AI algorithm,” Kesler said. “Our Agatha model has also proven its ability to deliver high-quality insights that provide ‘explainability’ or context for why specific objects were flagged.” 

The technology comes as both commercial and government organizations around the world plan to launch large satellites constellations into space — including U.S. adversaries. China plans to launch two mega-constellations that comprise over 20,000 satellites this year, and the Pentagon confirmed that Russia launched what is likely a counterspace weapon to target American systems in low-Earth orbit (LEO) in March.

In response, leaders across the Pentagon have expressed concern over adversaries hiding satellites in these large constellations that can spy on and potentially harm U.S. systems. To help operators in handling the growing number of objects, U.S. Space Command and the Space Force are seeking capabilities that can offer improved situational awareness.

“One of the main things we need in space as we move forward is space domain awareness. We need to be able to characterize the domain, we need to understand what is what, where and also what’s its intent,” Chief Master Sergeant Jacob Simmons, senior enlisted leader at Spacecom, told reporters during a meeting at the annual Space Symposium in April. “Gone are the days that a satellite would just follow the physics, … they maneuver and we have to be able to keep custody and be able to not only track, but understand in the gaps where it might have gone.”

As Slingshot looks to deploy Agatha in real-world operations for space domain awareness, Space Systems Command is separately leveraging AI to help coordinate the multiple sensors on orbit. The acquisition command is currently testing a system known as Machina that assists operators in running space-based sensors used to observe objects in space, according to Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for space domain awareness and combat power at SSC.

“Instead of asking a specific sensor to look at a specific object, you type in what your problem set is and the system helps generate what is the best orchestration of sensors to meet that problem set,” McClain said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by C4ISRNet.

While Machina is still considered experimental, McClain said SSC is already rolling it out to some warfighters for real operations. He emphasized that as AI continues to advance, it has potential to assist the Space Force in data processing and completing repetitive tasks.

“We are continuously looking at what opportunities are out there and where we can blend that new technology,” he said.

The post DARPA harnesses AI to keep tabs on space weapons, spy satellites on orbit appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket hoisted the unmanned space plane into orbit Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after unspecified ground equipment issues and bad weather forced the company to push back the launch, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 7.

Although details about the latest mission have been largely kept behind closed doors, the Space Force said in November that some tests will include “operating in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space domain awareness technologies and investigating the radiation effects to NASA materials.”

“This was a very important mission and our teams worked shoulder-to-shoulder to ensure a successful launch,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, commander of Space Launch Delta 45, said in a statement. “Our national security space missions are the most stressing within our launch portfolio, and we have multiple world class organizations that come together to make the magic happen.”

First launched in 2010, the Boeing-made X-37B has served as an on-orbit, experimental testbed for novel technologies being developed by the Pentagon and NASA across six missions. The reusable space plane is able to conduct demonstrations during its years-long flights before landing back on Earth, where it can be repurposed for future missions.

Its most recent flight lasted 908 days, after which it returned to Earth in November 2022.

“The technological advancements we’re driving on X-37B will benefit the broader space community, especially as we see increased interest in space sustainability,” Michelle Parker, Boeing’s vice president of space mission systems, said in a statement. “We are pushing innovation and capability that will influence the next generation of spacecraft.”

Thursday’s launch marks the first time an X-37B has been carried to space by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket — an ultra powerful launch vehicle that could lift the military plane into higher orbital regimes than previous flights. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 system was used for the X-37B’s sixth mission, while the previous five leveraged the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.

Previous X-37B flights have tested space-to-ground solar energy technology developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and how organic materials react to exposure in space over long periods of time.

The post Space Force launches X-37B robotic space plane for new round of classified experiments appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“There are all kinds of uses for AI and machine learning that we tackle, we’re just taking a little more cautious approach right now,” Col. Zachary Warakomski, senior cyber officer at the Space Force, said Thursday during CyberScoop’s annual CyberTalks event.

In September, service leaders transmitted a memo to guardians that put a temporary hold on using generative artificial intelligence tools that leverage web-based datasets — such as ChatGPT. Despite mentions of generative AI’s potential for enhancing future operations, the service’s Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Lisa Costa cited cybersecurity and data concerns in the memo as to why the Space Force needed a pause.

The Pentagon’s new Task Force Lima — launched specifically in response to generative AI — also issued new interim guidance on Nov. 9 that advises how the department should treat the technology in the near term.

Warakomski said that moving forward, the Space Force wants to be “very clear” on how it plans to implement artificial intelligence.

One mission that Warakomski said could be improved with AI and ML is space domain awareness, “particularly when you think of the nearly 45,000 things that are on orbit, or pieces of debris that we are tracking — things of that nature. So, you’re looking at sensor tasking, pattern recognition.”

The service has been considering how these technologies could be integrated into space domain awareness operations this year, from conducting threat assessments, automating anomaly predictions and sifting through large amounts of data.

Better command-and-control ops could also be enabled by AI, particularly as the Department of Defense pivots to Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), Warakomski said. The new warfighting concept aims to connect thousands of military sensors and shooters under a single network.

“Certainly, when we look at command and control, battlefield management and the larger combined JADC2 effort across the DOD, there are all kinds of uses” for artificial intelligence, he said.

The post Space Force taking ‘cautious approach’ to AI, cyber officer says appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The Space Force awarded L3Harris two contracts worth $134 million for the Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) program, according to a press release. The contractor was first tapped for the effort in 2020, and estimates that the 10-year deal has a value of up to $1.2 billion.

“Advancing the MOSSAIC program will continue to modernize space domain awareness, which provides critical data to multi-domain warfighting operations,” Ed Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems at L3Harris, said in a statement. “For National Security Space leadership to respond to threats, they must begin with a clear understanding of the space environment. L3Harris is a key partner through the entire chain of detection, tracking, targeting and engagement options.”

One contract will focus on upgrading two of the decades-old Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) telescopes that are used to track objects in geostationary orbit, over 22,000 miles from Earth.

The company will design and develop technology for the telescopes located at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico and Maui, Hawaii in order to “facilitate more persistent coverage supporting space domain awareness across the DOD,” per the release.

The second contract is for sustainment of the Space Fence radar operated on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. The Space Force uses the Lockheed Martin-produced radar to keep an eye on smaller payloads and orbital debris — mainly in low-Earth orbit — as well as monitoring weather in space and tracking foreign launches.

Situational awareness is a key mission for America’s newest military branch, especially as the space domain becomes more crowded with U.S., allied, commercial and — most importantly — adversary systems.

While the Pentagon is looking to procure more advanced capabilities that can monitor space, the MOSSAIC program ensures that the ground systems already in operation are properly maintained and stay up to date with the latest sensor technologies. That includes modernizing communications infrastructure to enable “machine-to-machine taskings to track and respond to thousands of objects in space,” according to L3Harris.

The contractor previously received a $145 million contract modification in April for additional work on MOSSAIC. It has already completed upgrades on telescopes in Maui, a radar at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and a command-and-control center in Dahlgreen, Virginia, the company said.

The post Space Force taps L3Harris to continue upgrades, maintenance work for ground-based sensor systems appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The newest TAP lab will facilitate partnerships between Space Force guardians and external partners to identify and address challenges in the service’s space domain awareness capabilities — a technology accelerator program the Space Force has dubbed “Project Apollo.”

Through the program, the lab plans to host three-month “innovation cycles” with invited partners up to four times a year, according to a press release from Space Systems Command (SSC).

“The new TAP Lab will expose data at all classification levels to our industry, academia, government agency and allied partners and provide them with a ‘sand box’ to experiment on the data, to include implementing artificial intelligence,” SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Mike Guetlein said in a statement. “Promising developmental capabilities will then be fast-tracked into operations, giving our warfighters a competitive advantage.”

In May, Guetlein directed SSC to set up a second TAP lab for the space domain awareness mission. The Colorado Springs location is modeled closely after SSC’s first TAP lab located in Boulder, Colo., which focuses on missile warning and tracking capabilities.

Space domain awareness is a key priority for the Space Force, especially as the domain becomes increasingly crowded with U.S., allied, commercial and — most importantly — adversary space systems.

The mission is one of three major lines of effort detailed in the Defense Department’s unclassified space strategy published Sept. 14. The policy calls on the department to improve space sensing capabilities, as well as better integrate its disaggregated system of sensors and data processing.

The Space Force’s new TAP lab will contribute to that effort by “rapidly onboarding ‘apps to close gaps,’ decomposing kill chains into atomic parts, prioritizing needs with operators, mapping needs to technologies, and enabling on-boarding onto existing platforms in order to quickly integrate solutions into operations,” the SSC press release stated. It will primarily work with squadrons in Space Delta 2, the service’s space domain awareness delta

SSC is looking for members of industry and others to participate in Project Apollo’s first “innovation cycle” that is slated to begin Oct. 26 at the Colorado Springs lab, according to the service. Selected partners will focus on at least one of three challenges to space domain awareness — maintaining custody of space launches within minutes and predicting their intermediate and final orbits; classifying, identifying and evaluating space objects within seconds; and providing semi-automated, real-time decision-making tools based on data for command-and-control centers.

In addition, partners will have access to a “digital sandbox” that includes data, microservices, algorithm benchmarking tools, a software development environment and the capability to plug in their own applications and microservices with the Space Force’s.

“As the next generation of space professionals emerges, Project Apollo is a path to solve real problems, collaborate across industry and government, provide expert mentorship, interact with operators, and make measurable advances in space defense,” Maj. Sean Allen, the TAP lab’s first chief, said in a statement.

The post Space Force opens second collaboration hub, looks to advance space domain awareness appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The payloads were carried by United Launch Alliance on board one of the company’s Atlas V rockets. The event took place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff was initially scheduled for Aug. 29 but got scrapped due to Hurricane Idalia making its way across the Florida coast. It was rescheduled for Saturday but was postponed until the following day “due to an issue found during a prelaunch ordnance circuit continuity check,” according to a ULA post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

NRO Director Christopher Scolese told reporters in August prior to the launch that Silentbarker underscores an important burgeoning partnership between his spy agency and the Space Force.

“Working together, we’ve developed a system in a relatively short amount of time that’s going to provide us with unprecedented coverage of what’s going on in the [geosynchronous] belt so that we can understand the intentions of other countries to see what they’re doing in the GEO belt, to see if there’s any indications of threats or if it’s just normal,” he said.

Details about the Silentbarker satellites — including any contractors involved or what specific capabilities are included with the payloads — have largely been kept secret since the NRO began working with the Pentagon on the program. However, Scolese confirmed that the entire constellation will eventually include multiple payloads that will keep track of objects stationed in geosynchronous orbit. 

Scolese described the constellation as a “watchdog” for the GEO regime, which is about 22,236 miles above the Earth’s equator and a difficult area of space to monitor from the ground. Silentbarker will allow the Space Force and the NRO to have a better understanding of what’s happening in that orbit, where a number of critical space assets are.

“We also want to know if there is something going on that is unexpected or shouldn’t be going on that could potentially represent a threat to a high value asset — either ours or one of our allies,” he said.

Space domain awareness is considered a priority mission for the Space Force, especially as more military and commercial assets are launched into space and that realm becomes increasingly contested. The service is actively working to close current capability gaps that prevent it from having adequate data on what’s happening in space.

In the case of Silentbarker, moving the capability on orbit offers unprecedented opportunities for sensing objects in the GEO regime, according to Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command — the Space Force’s acquisition arm.

“Today, we primarily rely on our ground-based radars. Our ground-based radars are pretty exquisite, but they pretty much can only see about a basketball-sided object in space. And because of the challenges of day, night and weather, it gets extremely hard to maintain custody of those objects,” Guetlein said during the roundtable with reporters. “By actually moving the sensor into orbit with those objects, we can actually not only detect smaller objects, but maintain custody of them.”

The Space Force requested $115.6 million in fiscal 2024 for Silentbarker, which includes “on-orbit support” in order to meet initial operational capability and a continued development of the Silentbarker “expansion” increment to achieve full operational capability, according to budget documents. The constellation is on track to meet full operational capability by 2026, Scolese said.

The payloads launched Saturday will now undergo a checkout phase that could range from 30 to 90 days, he noted.

Once full operational capability is achieved, Silentbarker will be maintained by NRO while data gathered from the satellites will be sent to the National Defense Space Center jointly operated by NRO and U.S. Space Command, the combatant command responsible for American military operations in space.

The post Silentbarker ‘watchdog’ satellites successfully launched for Space Force-NRO spy missions appeared first on DefenseScoop.