Tournear said that the optical intersatellite link demonstration was final success in a trifecta of baseline challenges to SDA’s plan to network hundreds of military satellites in LEO, as well as to eventually to integrate commercial satellites into the mix.
By Theresa HitchensA new constellation with laser comms and compatibility with the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is now taking shape.
By Breaking DefenseLong-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.
By Theresa HitchensWhile 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.
By Theresa HitchensTournear said today that there will be a total of 216 Transport Layer satellites orbited for what the agency calls its Tranche 2 configuration, which will begin launching in 2026.
By Theresa HitchensThe 10 satellites, which will be lofted on a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SFB to low Earth orbit (LEO), are the first batch of the Tranche 0 constellation, building blocks of America’s resilient space strategy.
By Theresa Hitchens“Translator” payloads are necessary because many of today’s commercial remote sensing providers do not, and will not, have the ability to equip their satellites with optical inter-satellite links (OISLs) required to link to the agency’s Transport Layer birds, said SDA Director Derek Tournear.
By Theresa Hitchens“We may say that we don’t want to, and we stand behind not doing, kinetic debris creating testing, but that does not mean that we should not have that capability,” said Mitchell Institute Senior Fellow for Spacepower Studies Tim Ryan.
By Theresa HitchensMandrake 2’s next trick, after demonstrating optical intersatellite links, will be using lasers for space-to-ground communications.
By Theresa HitchensSpaceLink intends to put four data relay satellites in Medium Earth Orbit, to complement and backup the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer.
By Theresa Hitchens“I’m focusing on laser communication terminals because I think that’s the strongest candidate to build in the US,” Rob Geckle, CEO of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa HitchensThe defense prime also for the first time revealed that its partners in developing the secure OISL system: laser communications firm Mynaric and space avionics company Innoflight.
By Theresa Hitchens“Undersea cable infrastructure is ripe for sabotage,” said Karen Jones, one of the authors of the study.
By Theresa HitchensFourteen vendors have been chosen to complete designs for two different pieces of an optical terminal that can connect incompatible LEO sats.
By Theresa Hitchens