The Space Development Agency is calling on industry to help shape the blueprint of a proposed national missile defense system as outlined in the recent “Iron Dome for America” executive order, announcing plans to issue 60-day studies to flesh out potential new dimensions of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).
On Feb. 11, SDA published a notice seeking ideas on enhancing its existing satellite constellation plan to support a notional next-generation domestic air and missile defense system.
“The Space Development Agency is soliciting executive summaries, proposal abstracts and proposals for novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies and capabilities that enable leap-ahead improvements for future Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture tranches, capability layers or enable new capability layers to address other emerging or evolving warfighter needs,” states the notice.
The agency is soliciting “approaches to perform 60-day studies on a U.S. ‘Iron Dome’ architecture and capability” under a previously published broad area announcement focus area for “advanced target custody, warning, tracking and defeat.”
SDA is focused on the most urgent needs set forth by U.S. combatant commanders and service chiefs by delivering a mesh network that is intended to provide low-latency data transport in space to enable advanced missile tracking and beyond-line-of-sight targeting of land and maritime targets.
This PWSA includes seven low-earth orbit layers envisioned to eventually be more than 500 satellites, including a custody layer, a battle management layer, a navigation layer, a deterrence layer to detect hostile action in deep space, a tracking layer, a transport layer and a support layer.
A key area of interest, according to the “Iron Dome” notice, is the acceleration of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor program -- being developed by the Missile Defense Agency -- into SDA’s PWSA’s tracking layer. SDA is exploring whether existing satellite infrastructure can be adapted to detect and follow high-speed threats more effectively.
Additionally, the agency is considering new sensing technologies, including non-traditional phenomenologies, that could improve the custody and tracking layers, according to the notice.
SDA is also seeking ideas on how the PWSA could serve as the “backbone of a global kill web,” integrating data from a network of terrestrial, airborne and maritime sensors to support multidomain missile defense, according to the notice.
Proposals on ensuring secure and resilient supply chains for critical components -- including advanced encryption, anti-tamper protections and scalable production capabilities -- are sought too, according to the notice.
The solicitation calls for recommendations on making PWSA interoperable with other missile defense systems, including commercial and allied platforms, to create a more flexible and responsive defense network. The agency is also looking for advancements in on-orbit sensor data processing and track fusion, enabling satellites to analyze and disseminate targeting data with minimal latency to frontline units.
Autonomy will play a key role in SDA’s vision for missile defense, and the agency is interested in software solutions that allow satellites to operate with greater independence, reducing the need for continuous ground intervention.
The findings from the studies will inform future government decisions on procurement, architecture design and technology development for the missile defense system, according to the notice.
The agency seeks responses by Feb. 28.