The Space Development Agency resumed its Tranche 1 launch effort July 16, sending 21 data transport satellites to continue building out a mesh network in low-Earth orbit.
Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture
The Space Development Agency is on track to resume its Tranche 1 launch campaign this week after a nine-month pause to fix hardware and software issues that arose on orbit following the launch of its first operational satellites last fall.
The Space Development Agency launched its first two batches of operational satellites last fall in what was supposed to be the start of a 10-month campaign to populate its proliferated data transport and missile tracking constellation. Six months later, the agency and its vendors have ...
The Space Development Agency is shelling out $30 million to see how it can use a commercial satellite network for tactical communications. The contract award to AST SpaceMobile, announced Feb. 23, is the agency's first use of a vendor pool meant for demonstration and experimentation ...
The Space Force’s Space Development Agency announced $3.5 billion in contract awards to four companies to build a total of 72 missile warning and tracking satellites—the largest deal to date for its low-Earth orbit constellation.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government ...
The Space Development Agency is ready to start launching operational satellites—and launch and launch again over the next 10 months. Twenty-one of SDA’s low-Earth orbit satellites are scheduled to launch shortly after 7 a.m. Pacific time on Sept. 10. The...
Derek M. Tournear, the head of the Space Development Agency that spearheaded the trailblazing push to buy and launch small satellites at a speed and scale unseen in military space circles, is departing the organization for a job in academia just before a momentous launch.
While the U.S. and its allies up their efforts to build out multi-orbit, multi-constellation satellite communications that are harder for an enemy to disrupt, officials noted technical and cost challenges, particularly for the user in the field.
The long-term future of one of the Space Development Agency’s two satellite constellations is on hold as officials study the options for replacing a planned “data transport layer” with one or more commercial solutions. President Trump’s proposed 2026 defense budget...
After the first tranches of its ambitious low-Earth orbit constellation faced production and supply chain issues that delays launches, the Space Development Agency is trying something new for its next round of satellite procurement. The agency awarded a $55 million contract to SAIC on April 22 ...
Derek M. Tournear, the director of the trailblazing Space Development Agency who was put on administrative leave in January amid an investigation into a disputed contract, will return to his duties April 17, the Department of the Air Force announced.