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U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA)

US
gov defenseFounded 2019
United States
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Verified facts grounded in source documentation.

Lockheed Martin was selected to build 42 Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites for the Space Development Agency that SDA plans to launch in late 2024.

NARRATIVE GROWTH9/19/2023CACI optical terminals pass initial tests required for Space Development Agency satellites

Geost won a contract on 2023-09-11 to produce eight payloads for missile-tracking satellites that Northrop Grumman is building for the U.S. Space Development Agency.

ORG RELATIONSHIP9/11/2023Geost payloads selected for Space Development Agency satellites

Ten Lockheed Martin-built satellites were successfully deployed into low Earth orbit in support of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer mission.

TECHNICAL PRODUCT9/4/2023Launch Addendum: Lockheed Martin reports on their Transport Layer Satellites launch as part of the SDA’s Tranche 0 mission

The Space Development Agency plans to launch 72 data-transport satellites to orbit in 2026.

NARRATIVE GROWTH8/29/2023Space Development Agency’s data-transport satellites get more complex

To date Lockheed Martin has won Space Development Agency contracts for 88 satellites and Northrop Grumman has won orders for 92 satellites.

ORG RELATIONSHIP8/21/2023Space Development Agency awards contracts to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman for 72 satellites

The Space Development Agency set a target price of at most $15,000,000 per Transport Layer satellite.

NARRATIVE GENERAL8/11/2023Space Development Agency shaking up how the military buys satellites

Lockheed Martin and the Space Development Agency successfully completed the Critical Design Review for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer program.

TECHNICAL PRODUCT8/7/2023Lockheed Martin: Smallsat rapid development facility opens + also completes the CDR for SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites

BMC3 is the on-orbit data processing and computing system for the Transport Layer of communications satellites that the Space Development Agency plans to deploy over the next several years.

NARRATIVE GROWTH6/8/2023SAIC to develop ‘software factory’ for Space Development Agency

Following Tranche 0 deployment, SDA plans to launch dozens more satellites on a monthly cadence starting with Tranche 1 in late 2024.

NARRATIVE GROWTH5/26/2023Space Development Agency to launch 13 satellites in late June

Transport Layer Tranche 2 will be the Space Development Agency’s largest procurement to date.

NARRATIVE GENERAL5/12/2023Space Development Agency issues draft solicitation for 100 satellites

Tranche 1 Tracking Layer is the Space Development Agency’s first operationally capable set of low-Earth orbit infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites.

NARRATIVE GENERAL5/11/2023CesiumAstro’s active phased array technology is enlisted by Raytheon Technologies for 7 space vehicles supporting SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer

Raytheon Technologies’ space vehicles are part of the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, the Space Development Agency’s first operationally capable set of low-Earth orbit infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites.

NARRATIVE GENERAL5/8/2023CesiumAstro to Provide Active Phased Array Communication Payloads for SDA’s T1TL Lunar Exploration

Raytheon’s space vehicles are part of SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, SDA’s first operationally capable set of LEO infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites.

NARRATIVE GENERAL5/8/2023CesiumAstro to provide 7 multi-beam, active phased array comms payloads to Raytheon Technologies for SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer

Raytheon Technologies’ space vehicles are part of Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, the Space Development Agency’s first operationally capable set of low-Earth orbit infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites.

NARRATIVE GENERAL5/4/2023CesiumAstro Selected to Provide 7 Multi-Beam, Active Phased Array Communications Payloads to Raytheon Technologies for SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer

The Space Development Agency plans to field Tranche 1, the first operational generation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, beginning in late 2024.

NARRATIVE GENERAL4/3/2023Space Development Agency Successfully Launches Tranche 0 Satellites

Congress added $500,000,000 to the Space Development Agency’s budget for the Tracking Layer, and the agency moved up the first launch of Tranche 1 from 2026 to 2025.

NARRATIVE GENERAL3/2/2023Raytheon wins $250 million contract for missile-tracking satellites

The Space Development Agency identified laser intersatellite links as one of the most critical technologies when it started planning and buying satellites in 2020.

NARRATIVE GENERAL2/9/2023Military agency praised for leading the way on laser communications

Terran Orbital completed delivery of 10 satellite buses ordered by Lockheed Martin for the Space Development Agency’s mesh network in low Earth orbit on 2022-12-22.

NARRATIVE GENERAL12/22/2022Terran Orbital delivers 10 satellite buses to Lockheed Martin for U.S. military constellation

The Space Development Agency plans to launch hundreds of Transport Layer satellites with optical crosslinks to transmit imagery and data globally.

NARRATIVE GROWTH12/21/2022Laser links are great for satellite relay, but challenges abound for taking it to ground

The Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 satellites slipped from a planned 2022 launch schedule to 2023 with the first launch targeted for March and the second targeted for June.

NARRATIVE GENERAL12/15/2022Space acquisition chief: DoD will buy small satellites, at fixed prices
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