Missile warning and tracking programs, and the emerging Space Data Network being developed to ferry space sensor data to shooters on the ground, in the air and at sea are among the programs seeing huge increases.
It is unclear whether Gurpartap "GP" Sandhoo will keep his role as SDA acting director under a double-hat, but one industry source said that is the most likely solution at least in the near term.
Answering the Pentagon’s call to bolster defense industrial base.
The Space Development Agency is taking a "strategic pause" in launching its Tranche 1 data relay and missile tracking satellites to work out the kinks discovered in the 42 birds already on orbit, according to SDA Director GP Sandhoo.
The award to Kratos is a follow-on to an earlier Space Force contract with Parsons for the new Resilient Missile Warning Tracking in Medium Earth Orbit satellite program's ground operations center.
The Space Development Agency told Breaking Defense it "disagreed with the specifics of many of the report’s assertions," but promised to "work through" its recommendations.
SpaceX will launch 36 Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites — 18 built by L3Harris and 18 built by Lockheed Martin — plus eight FOO Fighter birds built by Millennium Space Systems.
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
"When the funding will be authorized, given the shutdown and all the fun there, is a question mark," one industry source told Breaking Defense.
The move is part of a long-running effort by Space Systems Command to reorganize acquisition programs along mission area lines, syncing up with the structure of the service's main operational arm, Space Operations Command.
"Space Systems Command intends to award a second vendor, but the quantity will depend on the selected vendor’s proposal. The timing and scope of that award is subject to the outcomes of the on-going FY26 budget deliberations," Col. Rob Davis, SSC's head of Space Sensing program, told Breaking Defense.
Space Systems Command (SSC) in recent weeks has issued a flurry of contracts for the key hardware and software "thrusts" that make up the FORGE program, following a restructuring in 2023 that broke the effort into more manageable pieces.
"Unfortunately, we were, we were slowed down a bit by uncertainty in our budget," said SSC's Col. Rob Davis, delaying awards for Epoch 2 of the Resilient Missile Warning/Missile Tracking — MEO program by about three months.
The Space Development Agency "has taken steps to develop laser communications technology but has not yet fully demonstrated it in space," finds a report released today by the Government Accountability Office.
This year saw evidence that a shift toward more openness about US national security space activities is coming whether those deep in the "black world" are ready or not.
"When one of our two industry partners struggled with delivering on cost and schedule, we were able to quickly pivot and still maintain program progress by turning to the performing vendor," Col. Rob Davis, program executive officer for SSC's Space Sensing Directorate, said.