U.S. military constellation advances despite supply chain hurdles (Image Credit: Space News)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) is recalibrating its ambitious satellite deployment timeline, with the next launch of its low Earth orbit constellation now projected between March and April 2025, agency director Derek Tournear said Nov. 19.
The first launch of Tranche 1 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) was originally scheduled for September 2024 and later pushed to early 2025. The new target is the March to April 2025 timeframe.
The delay underscores the complex challenges of scaling up a new approach to military space infrastructure that seeks to replace traditional large monolithic satellites with a more agile, proliferated network of smaller, interconnected spacecraft.
Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Tournear said SDA has encountered significant hurdles in its supply chain. The latest constraints center on two critical components: optical terminals for inter-satellite laser communications and specialized encryption devices requiring National Security Agency (NSA) certification. Vendors have struggled to scale up production, he said. Despite the setbacks, Tournear expressed cautious optimism about meeting the revised schedule, emphasizing the agency’s “high confidence” in the new timeline.
“It’s clear that many subcontractors weren’t able to scale up as quickly as needed,” Tournear said. The agency has taken the unusual step of directly engaging with lower-tier suppliers, even establishing contracts to incentivize production capabilities.
The deployment of Tranche 1 will require 11 launches to be scheduled on a monthly cadence. The constellation includes 126 communications satellites and 28 missile-tracking sensor satellites made by York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and Northrop Grumman. Tranche 2 manufacturers include new entrants Rocket Lab and Sierra Space. Together, these satellites will provide advanced capabilities in secure communication and missile defense.
Competitive landscape
An organization under the U.S. Space Force, SDA’s primary mission is to develop and deploy a space network to enhance the military’s ability to detect, track and counter advanced threats.
Beyond supply chain issues, SDA faces the broader challenge of fostering competition in the military space industry. While the agency has expressed interest in diversifying its pool of contractors to include nontraditional defense firms, Tournear admitted this is easier said than done.
The problem is that incumbents who’ve already won contracts are better positioned to win future ones, Tournear noted. This dynamic creates barriers for new entrants, whose technologies may be viewed as higher-risk during the source selection process.
To address this, SDA started the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (HALO) program. HALO offers pre-selected vendors the opportunity to compete for contracts to build satellites for in-orbit experiments. Successful participants can then bid on larger PWSA contracts with greater credibility.
“We recognize the challenges new entrants face,” said Tournear. “HALO is designed to give them a pathway to prove their capabilities and break into this market.”
New tech for future tranches
While grappling with Tranche 1 production, the SDA is setting its sights on Tranche 3, projected for launch in 2028 and 2029. This phase will expand the constellation with approximately 200 satellites and introduce new capabilities tailored to the U.S. Army’s needs.
Among the planned innovations is a positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) signal as a backup to GPS. “We’re working with the Army to define exactly what this looks like,” said Tournear, adding that the signal could potentially support precision-guided munitions.
Tranche 3 will also advance missile defense capabilities. While the Tranche 1 and 2 Tracking Layer satellites focus on missile warning and trajectory tracking, Tranche 3 will include more sophisticated systems capable of detecting, tracking and directly sending data to a missile defense interceptor weapon. The agency plans to procure 40 to 45 tracking satellites and nine multi-mission satellites that can simultaneously perform missile warning, tracking, and “fire control” defense functions, which is a technological leap. “We’re really interested in hearing from industry on what those capabilities are,” Tournear said.