The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced its intent to issue a task order to Microsoft under the first pool of the STRATUS program for cloud service provider core services. USDA issued a request for quotes in October and awarded Microsoft a basic ordering agreement under STRATUS Pool 1 on Friday following the assessment of […] More

The Space Development Agency has released a request for proposals for the procurement of 20 Gamma variant satellites for the second tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture’s transport layer. The Tranche 2 Transport Layer Gamma constellation will include a warlock mission payload, a unique capability designed to close future kill chains through the PWSA, according to a notice posted on SAM.gov Tuesday.

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Iridium Communications has hired John McNiff as vice president and general manager of the company's Space Development Agency business, bringing to the role over three decades of professional experience. The appointment went into effect on Feb. 5, the satellite communications company said Monday.

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Maxar Technologies‘ space systems business will continue supporting L3Harris Technologies in the development of missile warning and tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency. For SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer constellation of low-Earth satellites program, Maxar said Thursday it will design and produce 18 Maxar 300 spacecraft platforms and provide associated support.

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A General Atomics business unit will demonstrate the capability of its optical communications terminals aboard a satellite in low Earth orbit under a contract with the Space Development Agency. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is developing two OCTs for integration with two GA-75 satellites to support data sharing and other on-orbit computing resources.

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The Space Development Agency is giving industry partners the opportunity to comment on the draft solicitation for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Futures Program Ground Segment Integration acquisition. The acquisition aims to provide infrastructure and services that would support the Emerging Capabilities mission, minimizing the cost of demonstrations and experimentations of PFP space vehicles, the SDA said Wednesday.

Experts, government leaders and industry executives will tackle the most urgent issues concerning space at the Potomac Officers Club's 2024 Space Summit. Register now.

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Sixteen missile tracking satellites have passed L3Harris Technologies' critical design and production readiness reviews as part of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer program. The PRR clears L3Harris to proceed with full production of the satellites, which are vital to the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture network, the company announced Wednesday.

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The Space Development Agency has released a draft program solicitation to seek industry feedback on a plan to buy 20 Gamma space vehicles for the second tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture's transport layer. SDA expects to release the final request for proposals for the PWSA Tranche 2 Transport Layer Gamma procurement effort no later than March 31, 2024, according to a notice posted Monday on SAM.gov.

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Northrop Grumman has concluded the design review of 16 satellites intended for an expansive network that will facilitate conventional and advanced missile tracking from low-Earth orbit. The company said Wednesday the critical design review is part of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer project, which seeks to use the satellites for identifying hypersonic weapons and advanced missiles from their initial launch phases to interception.

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Tesat has demonstrated the interoperability of its Optical Communication Terminals for use on the Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites Lockheed Martin is developing for the Space Development Agency. During a recent ground interoperability testing, the OCTs were able to create and maintain data communication link with a reference modem and then with a third-party optical terminal.

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The Space Development Agency is soliciting information on approaches that could be used to develop a warfighting payload capability as part of the second tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture's transport layer. SDA plans to deploy the Warlock capability as part of the PWSA T2TL Gamma satellites, according to a request for information posted Monday on SAM.gov.

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Scientific Systems was added to a Science Applications International Corp.-led team responsible for creating a cloud-based application factory the Space Development Agency plans to use to support its low-Earth orbit satellite constellation. Aside from development work, the team will also deploy and maintain the Battle Management Command, Control and Communications Application Factory and Secure Interoperability Layer in support of the SDA's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

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