Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear today announced the award of two prototype agreements worth a total potential value of over $1.3 billion to L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman to build out the next stage of the agency's orbital tracking layer that will monitor advanced missile threats.
Seven proposals were submitted, Tournear said, though he declined to name the other bidders. The value of L3Harris’ contract is approximately $700 million, Tournear stated, while Northrop Grumman’s is approximately $617 million.
The two companies will build 14 satellites each for a total Tranche 1 Tracking Layer constellation of 28 satellites.
Using infrared sensors, the tracking layer will provide enhanced detection, warning, tracking and identification of missile threats including hypersonics, according to an Other Transaction Authority solicitation for the program posted by the agency in March.
A new missile tracking infrastructure is necessary for two new, emerging threats, according to Tournear. Legacy tracking systems were designed to operate in a benign environment and increasing threats to satellites themselves, such as destructive antisatellite tests, have prompted the need for a proliferated architecture, he said.
More sophisticated missile threats also require enhanced tracking capabilities, Tournear added. Whereas older missile threats consisted of ballistic missiles with predictable trajectories, the introduction of missile technology like hypersonics that can maneuver in flight need more advanced sensors to track, which the tracking layer will supply.
SDA is building out the National Defense Space Architecture through a series of launches called tranches, with each tranche launching satellites for different missions consisting of separate layers. The contracts announced today are for the next phase of SDA’s space launches for the tracking layer of satellites.
The first portion of the tracking layer, numbering eight satellites, will be launched in Tranche 0 launches scheduled for next year. L3Harris was previously awarded $193 million by SDA to deliver four satellites for the Tranche 0 Tracking Layer. SpaceX was picked to deliver the other four.
The Tranche 1 Tracking Layer will be divided into four orbital planes, with each vendor responsible for half a global constellation consisting of two planes, the tracking layer solicitation states.
Seven satellites will inhabit each plane, meaning L3Harris and Northrop Grumman will deliver seven satellites to their two individual planes for a total of 28 satellites that will be placed in low earth orbit.
According to Tournear, L3Harris and Northrop Grumman will be tasked with launch preparation services along with implementing associated ground support operations.
The solicitation noted that SDA may seek to launch more than 28 satellites. Tournear said today the agency is planning on a total of 28, but that number could rise down the road.
The tracking layer will leverage satellites placed into orbit through the Tranche 1 Transport Layer project, for which SDA announced contract awards in February. T1TL is a planned constellation of 126 satellites that will transmit data.
T1TL will be built by three contractors -- Northrop Grumman, York Space Systems and Lockheed Martin -- with each company contributing 42 satellites.
The tracking layer will utilize T1TL for low-latency transport of tracking data across NDSA, according to the tracking layer solicitation. Under requirements set forth by SDA, satellites delivered by different contractors must all be interoperable and able to operate in an integrated environment facilitated by a common ground system.
Operations and integration services of Tranche 1 satellites will be handled by General Dynamics, which won a $324.5 million contract from SDA in May to stand up and sustain ground installations that will unify the data streams flowing from various satellites provided by different vendors.
The first transport layer launch through Tranche 0 is scheduled for this fall, with Tranche 1 launches set for September 2024. SDA then aims to launch the first tracking layer satellite no later than April 30, 2025, a timetable accelerated by a $550 million program increase in March.
Launches for subsequent planes are then planned for one-month intervals through July 2025 for a total of four launches numbering seven satellites each, Tournear said.
The four launches will be achieved through National Security Space Launches conducted by Space Systems Command, he added.
The fully developed tracking layer could eventually number more than 100 satellites across multiple planes in low and medium earth orbit, the solicitation states, and a follow-on production contract for the Tranche 2 Tracking Layer may be awarded to one or more vendors -- including L3Harris, Northrop Grumman or other potential bidders -- depending on the success of the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer.