Long-range, high-speed optical communications will be critical for the service's plans for a "hybrid architecture" that would see networks of old and new military satellites, as well as commercial and allied networks, all communicating seamlessly to shift vast quantities of data around the world in near real-time.
"We truly have demonstrated that the vision of JADC2 and the vision of the Joint Fires Network is a reality and we can do it," SDA Director Derek Tournear told Breaking Defense.
The planned launches, which will take place starting in FY26, include sending a second SILENTBARKER watchdog satellite jointly developed by the service and the National Reconnaissance Office to geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO).
The contract includes 36 Tranche 2 Transport Layer - Alpha satellites and supporting ground elements, as well as five years of operations and sustainment.
The Space Development Agency has won International Telecommunication Union approval to test the Transport Layer birds over international waters and the territory of an unnamed allied nation.
Six LTAMDS radars are being tested in parallel to speed this transformational warfighting capability to U.S. Army and international air defense forces.
Despite the current supply chain obstacles, the Army is confident it can fully field the first Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) units by the end of this calendar year, said Chris Mills of the service's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.
With mission experience and partnerships across the space industry, Northrop Grumman is executing the Space Development Agency’s vision for speed, delivery, and agility.
The company also is providing a ground system for the sensors that could provide data about interference threats to users across the Defense Department and Intelligence Community, said Josh Hartman of GEOST's parent firm.
SDA plans to purchase and deploy a minimum of 54 space vehicles equipped with infrared sensors from up to three vendors under the new solicitation for Tranche 2 of its Tracking Layer constellation.
While SDA plans to use lasers to connect its hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit to each other and to the ground, that technology remains in its infancy.
The award to Northrop Grumman Space Systems has a total value of approximately $733 million; the Lockheed Martin award, approximately $816 million, the SDA release said. All totaled, the Space Development Agency up to now has awarded nearly $4.5 billion for the Transport Layer.
SDA Director Derek Tournear also shed some more light on the agency's new, highly secretive FOO Fighter program to develop new fire control quality tracking satellites.
The new "Fire-Control On Orbit-Support-To-The-War Fighter (FOO Fighter or F2)" program "will accelerate the ability to provide new fire control options for the tactical users," an SDA spokesperson told Breaking Defense. But how does it play with MDA programs?
The plan is to grant two contractors Other Transaction Authority awards to design and build the "Alpha" variant of SDA's Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites, with delivery of the first four in time for a September 2026 launch.