{"id":16767,"date":"2022-02-28T18:07:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T18:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/28\/space-development-agency-awards-18-billion-to-build-out-satellite-communications-layer\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:51:33","slug":"space-development-agency-awards-18-billion-to-build-out-satellite-communications-layer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2022\/02\/28\/space-development-agency-awards-18-billion-to-build-out-satellite-communications-layer\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Development Agency awards $1.8 billion to build out satellite communications layer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Space Development Agency announced prototype agreements with three companies to develop a total of 126 communication satellites that will lay the foundation of the agency\u2019s networked data transport architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other transaction agreements, which total about $1.8 billion, went to York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/2948229\/space-development-agency-makes-awards-for-126-satellites-to-build-tranche-1-tra\/\" target=\"_blank\">each to develop 42 satellites <\/a>to build out SDA\u2019s Transport Layer. That layer will be composed of a mesh network of communication satellites <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/c2-comms\/2020\/01\/16\/the-pentagon-wants-help-for-its-satellites-to-talk-to-each-other\/\" target=\"_blank\">connected by optical links<\/a> that allow them to transfer data from space sensors to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The low Earth orbit satellite network \u2014 part of SDA\u2019s layered National Defense Space Architecture \u2014 is envisioned as the backbone of the U.S. Department of Defense\u2019s Joint All-Domain Command and Control effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese awards will drive delivery of the NDSA\u2019s data and communications Transport Layer through a proliferated constellation of relatively small, mass-producible space vehicles in low Earth orbit,\u201d SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SDA\u2019s vision is to launch satellites in \u201ctranches\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2019\/07\/24\/what-will-the-space-development-agency-really-do\/\" target=\"_blank\">every two years<\/a>, regularly updating the on-orbit capability and offering opportunities for industry to compete to help grow the constellations. The satellites awarded Monday are part of Tranche 1 and are slated to launch in September 2024. The agency\u2019s first batch of satellites, Tranche 0, are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2020\/08\/31\/space-development-agency-orders-its-first-satellites\/\" target=\"_blank\">set to launch this October<\/a>. Lockheed and York are both on contract to deliver Tranche 0 transport satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although each company awarded a Tranche 1 contract will develop the same number of satellites, the value of their contracts differs significantly, with York receiving $382 million, Northrop $692 million and Lockheed $700 million. According to the release, the satellites will be split between two \u201cnear-polar\u201d LEO planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Northrop\u2019s Vice President for Communication Systems Blake Bullock said in a press release the company has \u201cfully embraced SDA\u2019s rapid, go-to-market spirit,\u201d which he said will allow it to deliver on time and on budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lockheed plans to leverage its existing Agility Partners Marketplace, which offers a pool of suppliers available to help mitigate potential supply chain issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving multiple component suppliers ensures that parts are available despite supply chain challenges encountered in today\u2019s operating environment,\u201d the company said in a press release. \u201cLockheed Martin\u2019s approach to high-rate production eliminates chokepoints by quickly isolating problems on vehicles without stopping the work on other satellites. The combination of these approaches will help keep SDA\u2019s aggressive delivery schedule on-time and on-budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The award announcement follows a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2021\/10\/28\/following-protest-space-development-agency-cancels-then-reissues-reworked-satellite-solicitation\/\" target=\"_blank\">somewhat contentious solicitation process<\/a>, with an industry protest in late August driving SDA to tweak its Tranche 1 Transport Layer acquisition strategy. The agency had planned to award the contracts using a more traditional contracting method but opted to use OTAs after satellite operator Maxar Technologies filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, Tournear said there had been concerns that SDA favored companies of a particular size over others, noting that the agency has had some difficulty convincing industry it will continue to encourage competition for future tranches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUntil we actually demonstrate that through multiple acquisitions, I think you\u2019re always going to have this mentality that people are going to want to ensure that they can fight as hard as they can to get an early award,\u201d Tournear said in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agency awarded approximately $1.8 billion to three companies who will help expand its on-orbit transport network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,33,163,36,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3468],"class_list":["post-16767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-military-space-report","category-newsletters","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QBIIJJ6BEJASDCUWWATHDUDDR4","arc_canonical_url":"\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2022\/02\/28\/space-development-agency-awards-18-billion-to-build-out-satellite-communications-layer\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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