“Effective 17 April, 2025, Dr. Derek Tournear will return to his duties as the Director of the Space Development Agency,” a DAF spokesperson said in a statement. 

The department announced Jan. 16 that Tournear was placed on administrative leave pending the results of an ongoing investigation and put Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Force’s Space Systems Command, in charge of the agency temporarily. Garrant was then replaced by William Blauser, deputy director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, as SDA’s acting director in February.

While the DAF has not provided details regarding the investigation’s scope, Breaking Defense reported that Tournear was placed on administrative leave following an alleged contract dispute over SDA’s award for the Gamma variant of the Tranche 2 Transport Layer.

In August, SDA awarded prototype agreements to Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems — a Terran Orbital company — and York Space Systems to each develop and build 10 Gamma space vehicles. The variants are intended to advance the agency’s experimental fire control efforts and will be part of SDA’s mega-constellation in low-Earth orbit known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

However, Viasat protested the award in September in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. According to court documents, Viasat claims the company’s proposal was undervalued by SDA while Tyvak and York Space Systems received additional guidance from the agency on how they could improve their bids, potentially giving them an unfair advantage.

SDA has since revoked Tyvak’s $254 million award for the 10 Gamma variant satellites and announced in March it will recompete the award. The $170 million contract to York Space Systems has not been affected by the bid protest.

As of press time, the Department of the Air Force did not immediately respond to DefenseScoop’s inquiry on the status and results of the investigation into Tournear.

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Although SDA planned to validate the technology’s utility in Tranche 0 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the agency “has not yet successfully demonstrated the full range of its laser communications technology in space using its new [optical communications terminal] standard” as of December 2024, the Government Accountability Office wrote in a new report published Wednesday. 

As a result, the watchdog is recommending that SDA complete testing of the “minimum viable product” for laser link technology before pursuing future efforts — otherwise the organization runs the risk of moving forward with the PWSA’s development without incorporating critical lessons learned.

On-orbit laser communications involves using optical communications terminals (OCTs) to transmitting data via laser links between satellites, as well as to receivers located on land, sea and in the air. The technology is considered to have several advantages over radio frequencies traditionally used by the Defense Department for communications, such as being able to send data faster and more securely.

Laser comms are central to SDA’s planned mega-constellation known as the PWSA, envisioned as hundreds of satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit that create a “mesh network” of data relay, missile warning and missile-tracking capabilities for the U.S. military. However, the agency has previously stated that proving out laser links will be a challenging technological hurdle — a fact also noted in GAO’s new report.

“[T]his technology is much more complex, and the Space Force is working with multiple vendors to develop it. Nevertheless, the number of vendors involved adds further complexity to the overall effort,” the document stated. “Among other things, the Space Force will need to ensure that different vendors’ satellite optical communications terminals (OCT), devices used to establish laser data transmission links, are able to communicate with each other.”

The watchdog noted that SDA has taken steps to prove the technology, such as developing a government OCT standard, conducting OCT laboratory tests and maturing various component capabilities. But overall, efforts to fully demonstrate space-based laser links on the agency’s experimental satellites known as Tranche 0 have not moved as quickly as expected, according to GAO. 

Delays have been largely attributed to supply chain challenges that pushed the constellation’s launch back by several months. SDA has also stalled in demonstrating laser links in orbit due to challenges in coordinating ground support and the agency’s prioritization of other technologies over laser communications, the report added.

“Specifically, as of December 2024, SDA reported that one of its four prime contractors in [Tranche 0] had demonstrated three of the eight planned laser communications capabilities while another contractor had demonstrated one of the eight capabilities,” GAO officials wrote. “The remaining two contractors have not yet achieved any planned capabilities.”

In January, York Space Systems and SpaceX announced they had successfully demonstrated a laser link connection between two of their Tranche 0 satellites. However, the GAO report emphasized that the two companies are using OCTs developed by the same subcontractor, meaning “SDA has yet to demonstrate a link between two OCT vendors in space as originally planned.”

Furthermore, the watchdog claims that the agency’s plans to launch the first operational batch of PWSA satellites — known as Tranche 1 — in the coming months without having fully demonstrated its enabling technology does not align with best practices for rapid delivery of complex tech.

Dubbed “spiral development,” SDA’s acquisition approach for the PWSA involves rapidly fielding systems through incremental “tranches” every two years, allowing for each phase to build upon previous iterations and ensuring warfighters are using the most advanced technology available.

“Our leading practices emphasize that prioritizing schedule — as SDA has done — and using an iterative development approach can support delivering products with speed to users,” the report stated. “However, our leading practices also note that speed cannot come at the cost of demonstrating critical capability.”

The watchdog noted SDA still intends to demonstrate a Tranche 0 mesh network before it launches Tranche 1 — although the agency will test only some of the capabilities it originally planned. At the same time, the report highlighted that SDA’s goal to dramatically increase both the number of PWSA satellites in orbit and the complexity of their capabilities could be compromised if the agency doesn’t have demonstrated success from previous tranches. 

“Since [Tranche 1] and [Tranche 2] are already in development, SDA may have limited opportunities to incorporate required design changes into those designs,” officials wrote. “Incorporating design changes in those tranches could potentially delay capability, meaning that laser communications capability required to support multiple DOD missions may not be available for the warfighter as planned.”

GAO said the Pentagon has concurred with the four recommendations in the report, but added that the department “believes it is already implementing our recommendations” — a position the watchdog disagreed with.

“The evidence presented throughout our draft and final report supports our view that SDA is not already taking the actions we recommend. We continue to believe SDA would benefit from taking steps aimed at implementing our recommendations,” GAO concluded.

The report’s release comes after weeks of controversy surrounding the Space Development Agency, which is currently having its semi-independent acquisition authority being reviewed by the Pentagon, according to a report from Breaking Defense. At the same time, the Department of the Air Force has placed SDA Director Derek Tournear on administrative investigative leave following a bid protest that has since prompted the agency to re-compete one of the PWSA’s contracts.

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The organization released a request for information posted to Sam.gov on Friday. In a related announcement, SDA said it’s looking for input on its upcoming Tranche 3, which will “accelerate the proliferation of missile defense capability to provide low-latency fire control-quality data.” The agency plans to purchase around 54 platforms — or potentially more — from one or more vendors.

The new RFI is the first one published for Tranche 3 of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a planned constellation of hundreds of satellites that carry communications, data transport, and missile warning and tracking capabilities. The agency’s systems stationed in low-Earth orbit (LEO) are intended to be part of a larger, multi-orbit proliferated space architecture of missile warning and tracking capabilities — one of the Space Force’s top budget priorities.

The Tranche 3 tracking satellites will be equipped with infrared sensors and be launched across six orbital planes, according to SDA. The agency is targeting a launch date of no later than April 2029 for the first plane, according to a release.

Responses to the RFI are due July 29, after which the agency plans to publish a final request for proposal.

Iterating off of the previous two tranches, Tranche 3 will provide fire control-quality data for warfighters. Fire control systems are able to create high-fidelity tracking information for incoming threats that includes the exact position and time accuracy needed for a missile defense system to send an interceptor to defeat targets.

The satellites in PWSA’s tracking layer are a separate effort from SDA’s experimental Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program, which focuses on advancing next-generation fire-control capabilities for very specific threats.

In addition, the Tranche 3 tracking satellites will continue “to provide global, persistent indications, detection, warning, tracking, and identification of conventional and advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems,” according to SDA. 

The first batch of 28 operational tracking satellites in Tranche 1 — built by Northrop Grumman and L3Harris — are scheduled to launch beginning in April 2025 and will offer “global mono coverage” for conventional missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles, an SDA fact sheet stated. 

Lockheed Martin, Sierra Space and L3Harris are contracted to develop satellites for Tranche 2, which will “complete near global stereo coverage” for missile warning and tracking missions while offering preliminary fire control capabilities, according to the fact sheet. The Tranche 2 satellites are scheduled to launch in 2027.

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SDA is charged with deploying the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — envisioned as a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit that provide capabilities to U.S. military forces. The architecture represents a pivot at the Defense Department in its space strategy, which has historically relied on a few large, exquisite satellites stationed in high orbits to perform missions like GPS and satcom.

Now, the Pentagon wants to proliferate hundreds of small and inexpensive satellites in LEO to support military operations. But that strategy doesn’t immediately translate to the equipment on the ground that will operate the vehicles, according to Col. Kalliroi Landry, chief of the support cell at the Space Development Agency.

“SDA does not want to build a proliferated ground segment to support a proliferated space segment,” Landry said Tuesday during a luncheon hosted by AFCEA. “I think that’s where one of the best opportunities to tap into commercial services is.”

In 2022, the agency awarded General Dynamics a seven-year contract worth $324.5 million to build and operate a nascent ground infrastructure — including two operations centers and 14 ground stations — for its first operational batch of satellites known as Tranche 1. SDA also awarded General Dynamics another contract in 2023 to mature their Tranche 1 ground components to also be able to support Tranche 2.

One of those operations centers will be located at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, while the other will be in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Other ground infrastructure will be scattered both in the continental United States and in partner countries, including Norway.

Landry explained that the contract was necessary for the first tranche so the agency could create a “baseline capability.” Moving forward, however, there are a number of commercial companies that could also provide services, ground entry points or command-and-control capabilities for Tranche 2 and beyond, she said.

“As l am looking into Tranche 2, I don’t want to have a whole next round of ground entry points. It’s too much property, it’s too much equipment,” Landry said. “I shouldn’t have to take care of that when there are perfectly capable industry partners out there who are able to do it.”

Meanwhile, the agency is readying a solicitation for the PWSA Futures Program (PFP) Ground Segment Integration (PGI) program. The organization posted a draft solicitation in December for the effort, which aims to provide the “common, enduring ground infrastructure and resources” for the different experimental missions and demonstrations it’s planning for — including Transport Layer Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) and Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter).

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The request for proposal, published on Sam.gov, is for the Gamma variant of SDA’s Tranche 2 transport layer, of which the organization plans to purchase “approximately 20” space vehicles from a single vendor. The satellites will be part of a larger constellation of 216 systems that “will provide global communications access and deliver persistent regional encrypted connectivity in support of Warfighter missions around the globe,” according to the solicitation.

The Tranche 2 transport layer will be one part of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a planned constellation of hundreds of satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit carrying satellite communications, data transport, missile warning and missile-tracking capabilities. The first operational batch of transport satellites in Tranche 1 will provide regional communications, and Tranche 2 will look to expand that coverage across the world.

Overall, the transport layer is considered a key component to realizing Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) — the Pentagon-wide effort to connect the U.S. military’s sensors and shooters under a more unified network. 

The layer will comprise satellites across three different configurations — dubbed Alpha, Beta and Gamma — that have common baseline mission payloads but each offer slightly different capabilities.

Specifically, the Gamma variants will be uniquely equipped with the secretive Warlock mission payload, according to the RFP. While the agency has revealed little about the specific requirements for Warlock, an SDA announcement notes the payloads will be “specifically designed to close future kill chains,” and previous releases indicated that Gamma satellites will provide fire control solutions to warfighters.

The solicitation comes about a week after Congress passed a $825 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2024, ending a nearly six-month-long continuing resolution. According to a report from Breaking Defense, SDA was forced to delay releasing the solicitation for the Gamma variant until funds for FY ’24 were approved.

Responses to the solicitation are due April 30.

SDA expects to begin launching the first satellites for Tranche 2 in September 2026, and the Gamma satellites are expected to go into orbit by July 2027.

The agency has already awarded contractors for the other two variants in the Tranche 2 tracking layer. In October 2023, Northrop Grumman and York Space Systems were awarded a combined $1.3 billion for the Alpha configurations, of which there will be 100 total satellites.

As for the Beta satellites, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman received $816 million and $733 million, respectively, in August 2023 to each build and deliver 36 space vehicles. Later in January, SDA added Rocket Lab National Security as the third vendor for the Beta variant with a $515 million contract to deliver 18 spacecraft — bringing the total number of Beta satellites to 90.

According to SDA, the agency determined that some of the satellites initially planned for the Gamma variant needed to be shifted over to the Beta configuration as a way to improve tactical satcom capabilities.

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The satellites will make up Tranche 2 of the agency’s tracking layer, a planned constellation of spacecraft that will give warfighters global coverage of the Earth for missile warning, tracking and defeat missions.

Under the other-transaction prototype agreements — worth a combined $2.5 billion — each company will deliver 18 satellites scheduled to launch by April 2027, according to an SDA press release.

L3Harris’s contract is worth up to $919 million, Lockheed Martin’s is worth up to $890 million and Sierra Space’s is worth up to $740 million, per the release. The three companies beat out six other vendors that competed for the contract awards, an SDA official told reporters Tuesday.

The 54 satellites will be part of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which is expected to include hundreds of space vehicles in low-Earth orbit that carry critical technologies for data transport and missile defense missions. The tracking layer — which will consist of approximately 100 satellites, the SDA official said — aims to provide continuous coverage of the Earth and will integrate with the meshed communication network provided by PWSA’s transport layer.

Each of the three companies tapped for the Tranche 2 tracking layer will build 18 satellites: 16 missile-warning/missile-tracking satellites equipped with infrared sensors, as well as two satellites carrying infrared sensors that offer a “preliminary” fire control-quality capability for missile defeat, the official said. 

While missile warning and tracking data helps warfighters identify potential threats, fire control-quality data includes more detailed information on a missile’s position, speed and time accuracy — allowing operators to accurately guide an interceptor to a location and defeat the threat. 

“We are delivering missile warning/missile tracking globally, and we’re providing preliminary fire control capability in Tranche 2 tracking,” the official said.

The six fire control satellites in Tranche 2 include multiple designs that were built upon the Missile Defense Agency’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program, they noted. SDA’s Tranche 2 tracking payloads will include a mix of medium-field-of-view and wide-field-of-view sensors, which will help both agencies and the larger missile defense community understand the needs for future capabilities, the official added.

The agency is also soliciting industry for a separate experimental constellation of satellites that will provide fire control-quality data under the Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program.

The recent award is yet another win for both L3Harris and Lockheed Martin, as both companies are heavily involved in other aspects of the Space Development Agency’s PWSA program. L3Harris is already contracted to deliver satellites for both Tranche 0 and Tranche 1 tracking layers, while Lockheed Martin is developing satellites for both the tracking and transport layers.

Meanwhile, this is Colorado-based Sierra Space’s first award from SDA. 

“The marketplace is responding to the demand signals for our spiral development model,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “The agile response across the space industry is critically important as we deliver to the warfighter this no-fail mission capability of missile warning, missile tracking, and missile defense.” 

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The California-based company has received a $515 million prototype agreement to build and operate 18 Beta variant satellites for SDA’s Tranche 2 transport layer, the agency announced Monday. The satellites will be part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — envisioned as a multi-layer constellation of spacecraft in low-Earth orbit that enable satcom, data transport, missile warning and missile-tracking capabilities.

The Tranche 2 transport layer will consist of 216 satellites across three different configurations — Alpha, Beta and Gamma — that each offer slightly different capabilities. Together, the three variants “will provide global communication access and deliver persistent global encrypted connectivity to support missions like beyond-line-of-sight targeting and missile warning and missile tracking of advanced missile threats,” according to SDA.

The transport layer is considered key to achieving Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), the Pentagon-wide effort to connect the U.S. military’s sensors and shooters under a more unified network. The agency has already put most of its demonstration layer, known as Tranche 0, on orbit and plans to launch its first operational layer — Tranche 1 — on a year-long, monthly launch schedule beginning in September 2024.

Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman received $816 million and $733 million, respectively, from SDA in August 2023 to each build and operate 36 Beta variant space vehicles. In October, the agency awarded Northrop Grumman and York Space Systems a combined $1.3 billion for the Alpha configurations, of which there will be 100 total space vehicles.

The contract with Rocket Lab brings the total number of Beta variant satellites to 90, and all three agreements are worth just over $2 billion combined.

“We welcome Rocket Lab as the newest member of Team SDA and our third performer on the [Tranche 2 transport layer] – Beta program,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “Their selection as a new prime and bus provider demonstrates SDA’s dedication to our mission, which includes development of a growing, innovative marketplace necessary to sustain SDA’s proliferated architecture on two-year spirals.”

According to SDA’s solicitation for the Beta instantiation, the agency was looking for satellites that could provide advanced communications and data transfer in low-Earth orbit via S-Band, Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications and Integrated Broadcast Service links. 

In a press release Monday, SDA noted that it determined some of the satellites planned for the Gamma variant needed to be moved to the Beta program in order to improve tactical satcom capabilities.

Now, the agency is planning for 26 Gamma variant space vehicles, which Tournear has said will be similar to Beta configurations — with additional requirements for advanced waveforms.

The 18 satellites built by Rocket Lab will be operated from lower inclination orbits than the first 72 Beta variant satellites from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — a move that will enhance the “overall robustness of the capability delivered by the [Tranche 2 transport layer space vehicles],” according to SDA.

The agency plans to begin launching Beta variant space vehicles in September 2026. The Rocket Lab satellites are slated to go on orbit no later than July 2027, per the release.

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Tournear wrote in a post published on LinkedIn on Thursday that he was recently told to no longer act as the “bad cop” for SDA or else he would hurt relationships with colleagues.

“The professional relationship I hold as my highest priority is the one between my agency and the warfighter. To deliver on my end of that relationship, we have no choice but to change,” Tournear wrote. “Change is hard; change is necessary. And nothing fights change like the paralyzing behavior of going along to get along.”

Tournear did not explicitly state the name of an individual or organization that might be criticizing him and SDA’s work. An SDA official told DefenseScoop that the post was prompted “by the everyday challenges one faces when trying to do things differently and accelerate the pace of delivery in a well-practiced bureaucracy.”

Established in 2019 and transitioned under the Space Force’s purview in 2022, the agency aims to streamline acquisitions of space capabilities in order to deploy new satellites and other tools as quickly as possible. SDA’s “spiral development” business model prioritizes rapid procurement of low-cost systems, with a goal to deliver new capabilities in multiple iterations so that warfighters have access to the latest technology and can easily pivot to new threats.

It’s a practice that is vastly different to the oft lengthy and bureaucratic processes historically used by the Defense Department to acquire new systems. Tournear noted in his post that space acquisitions have been guided by “very detailed capability – when it was ready.”

“SDA flips that paradigm to deliver what is ready on schedule—when the warfighter needs it. In this context, there have been more than a few times, when constructive disruption required someone to play the ‘bad cop,'” he wrote. 

The agency has moved relatively fast in terms of sending out solicitations, awarding contracts and deploying capabilities. Tournear highlighted in his post that while he is proud of the agency’s accomplishments, they didn’t come without challenges or “scars” caused by going against the grain of traditional acquisition practices.

Earlier this year, SDA held the first two successful launches for its constellation of satellites known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The multi-layer configuration of satellites will sit in low-Earth orbit and provide critical data transport, missile warning and missile tracking capabilities for warfighters.

The first two launches were for the agency’s demonstration tranche, dubbed Tranche 0, which will consist of 27 satellites in total. The satellites were built by L3Harris, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and York Space Systems.

The agency plans to begin launching Tranche 1, the first operational tranche of SDA satellites, in late 2024 and is targeting an aggressive monthly launch schedule. In 2022, York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman each received contracts worth a combined total of $1.8 billion to develop space vehicles for the Tranche 1 transport layer, while Northrop Grumman and L3Harris were tapped for a combined $1.3 billion to build satellites for Tranche 1’s missile tracking layer.

SDA has also begun soliciting and awarding contracts for Tranche 2, as well as for additional projects related to the PWSA and others completely separate from the constellation. 

Overall, Tournear and the agency have received praise for their work from high-level officials across the Defense Department. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall highlighted Tournear’s efforts in pursuing commercially available capabilities in April during the annual Space Symposium, while Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante recently pointed to the agency’s effective use of alternate acquisition strategies like other transaction authority and middle tier of acquisition approaches.

“Really watch that, because that is doing everything we’ve all said — go fast, use commercial, use all the authorities you have. They’re doing it,” LaPlante said in August during a panel at the NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense conference and expo.

Still, the agency has not had a lack of critics in its short history. Former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson fought hard against SDA’s creation during her tenure, some lawmakers and experts have questioned whether the organization creates confusion for the Space Force’s acquisition efforts, and others are still skeptical of the Pentagon’s shift to small, commercial satellites over traditional space systems.

“Although it’s not a role I relish, I cannot stand by and watch wasteful, thoughtless procedures that will only benefit our enemies by delaying delivery to the warfighter. Calling that out won’t always make friends, but it will make our nation stronger,” Tournear wrote. “If it’s what is needed for SDA to meet its mission and deliver for the warfighter, then I will continue to be a ‘Maverick,’ a ‘wild card,’ and a ‘bad cop’. I encourage all patriots to join with me as we arrest the status quo!”

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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.

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Published on Tuesday, the request for proposal is seeking industry bids for the Beta variant of the Tranche 2 transport layer consisting of 72 satellites and related ground support systems. The spacecraft will be part of a larger constellation of 216 satellites that “will provide global communications access and deliver persistent regional encrypted connectivity in support of Warfighter missions around the globe,” according to the solicitation posted on Sam.gov.

The Tranche 2 transport layer will be a part of the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which is expected to include hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit that carry critical technologies for satellite communications, data transport, missile warning and missile tracking.

The SDA launched the first batch of 10 satellites for PWSA — known as Tranche 0 — on April 2 and plans to launch the rest of the initial tranche in June. After demonstrations for Tranche 0, the agency plans to begin launching the Tranche 1 constellation in 2024.

The transport layer in Tranche 1 will give warfighters regional communications, and Tranche 2 will augment those capabilities and form a communications network that provides resilient and fast data transport capabilities from anywhere in the world, SDA Director Derek Tournear said April 5 at the Mitchell Institute’s Space Power Forum.

“Tranche 2 is going to build up what they’ve done on Tranche 1 to essentially make the entire architecture globally persistent,” he said.

The Tranche 2 transport layer will be divvied up into three groups of systems known as Alpha, Beta and Gamma that perform different functions, Tournear said.

The solicitation for the Beta instantiation is for satellites that can provide advanced communication and data transfer in low-Earth orbit via S-Band, Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications and Integrated Broadcast Service links, including “the ability to relay messages beyond-line-of-sight between the SDA OC and in-theater ground, maritime, and airborne users,” according to the RFP.

The agency plans to award Other Transaction agreements to three separate vendors for the Beta satellites.

Responses from industry are due May 10. Shortly thereafter, the SDA plans to release solicitations for the 100 Alpha instantiation of the Tranche 2 transport layer, Tournear said. These satellites will be similar to the baseline for Tranche 1’s transport layer, “meaning it will have the optical cross-links, it will have the [Ka-band], it will have the onboard battle management processing and it will [have] the Link-16 payload — that’s the main mission payload for Alpha,” he said.  

The other variant — Gamma — will look similar to the Beta satellites but also will have requirements for advanced waveforms, Tournear said.

The SDA is targeting the end of 2023 or early 2024 for the release of a solicitation for 44 Gamma Tranche 2 spacecraft, he added.

The agency plans to begin a year-long monthly launch campaign for the Tranche 2 transport layer no later than September 2026, according to the solicitation for the Beta systems.

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