Charles Lyons-Burt
The U.S. Department of Defense has been involved in the space arena for a long time. It has been putting satellites into orbit for 50 years and launching rockets for 70 years. However, since procurement timelines for technologies at the DOD can be notoriously slow, the department instituted the Space Development Agency in 2019 to try and expedite its processes for buying and developing new tools and technologies. Initially a separate defense agency, the SDA is now a function of the U.S. Space Force, with its objectives unchanged.
One of the SDA’s flagship endeavors is the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, an interconnected web of low earth orbit satellites intended to detect and communicate information about missile usage, as well as position, navigation and timing data and various other national security-minded intelligence and dispatch it to personnel on the ground.
“It’s going to enable that data creation and pointed deployment with the least possible latency so that the warfighter can actually do the missions that they need to do on a much more efficient basis,” SDA Technical Director Frank Turner said of the PWSA.
Turner will be the keynote speaker at ExecutiveBiz’s Space Technologies Forum on August 29. This breakfast event will be held at the scenic 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church, Virginia from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and feature some of the brightest minds in government space work sharing their thoughts on how to create and maintain continuous connectivity in space, among other topics. Register here now to reserve your spot.
With the PWSA, the SDA is filling a gap left by the Missile Defense Agency and Space Systems Command, who are responsible for satellite missile tracking in the geostationary and mid-Earth orbit zones. Today, the three agencies are operating in tandem to facilitate constellation planning and maintain fluid procedures for the DOD’s space-located national defense system.
“Everybody is bringing their core competencies or capabilities to the table for an integrated architecture that will provide the supporting missile tracking and missile defense capability that the US desperately needs,” commented Turner.
For the PWSA rollout, Turner and the SDA have established a systematic “spiral development” plan where satellites are launched by layer or “tranche” in order of ascending complexity and scale. The inaugural launch, tranche 0, made up of 10 experimental satellites, was scheduled for Sep. 2022 but was delayed until April, when it achieved liftoff in collaboration with SpaceX.
“Every two years, we’re going to fly something and demonstrate it and then we’re going to deliver it… We’re flying, we’re building, we’re buying all at the same time, and we’re going to keep going like that,” Turner reported.
To go more in-depth with Turner and other major space executives as they discuss how the DOD and the federal government at large are harnessing new technologies in space, look no further than ExecutiveBiz’s Aug. 29 Space Technologies Forum. Register here and come hungry for both the excellent food provided by 2941 Restaurant and the panoply of great ideas from top speakers.
