SDA eyes commercial capabilities, services for future ground segment operations

The Space Development Agency is hoping to lean on the commercial space sector for ground equipment needed to operate its future tranches of missile warning and communications satellites. 

SDA is charged with deploying the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — envisioned as a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit that provide capabilities to U.S. military forces. The architecture represents a pivot at the Defense Department in its space strategy, which has historically relied on a few large, exquisite satellites stationed in high orbits to perform missions like GPS and satcom.

Now, the Pentagon wants to proliferate hundreds of small and inexpensive satellites in LEO to support military operations. But that strategy doesn’t immediately translate to the equipment on the ground that will operate the vehicles, according to Col. Kalliroi Landry, chief of the support cell at the Space Development Agency.

“SDA does not want to build a proliferated ground segment to support a proliferated space segment,” Landry said Tuesday during a luncheon hosted by AFCEA. “I think that’s where one of the best opportunities to tap into commercial services is.”

In 2022, the agency awarded General Dynamics a seven-year contract worth $324.5 million to build and operate a nascent ground infrastructure — including two operations centers and 14 ground stations — for its first operational batch of satellites known as Tranche 1. SDA also awarded General Dynamics another contract in 2023 to mature their Tranche 1 ground components to also be able to support Tranche 2.

One of those operations centers will be located at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, while the other will be in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Other ground infrastructure will be scattered both in the continental United States and in partner countries, including Norway.

Landry explained that the contract was necessary for the first tranche so the agency could create a “baseline capability.” Moving forward, however, there are a number of commercial companies that could also provide services, ground entry points or command-and-control capabilities for Tranche 2 and beyond, she said.

“As l am looking into Tranche 2, I don’t want to have a whole next round of ground entry points. It’s too much property, it’s too much equipment,” Landry said. “I shouldn’t have to take care of that when there are perfectly capable industry partners out there who are able to do it.”

Meanwhile, the agency is readying a solicitation for the PWSA Futures Program (PFP) Ground Segment Integration (PGI) program. The organization posted a draft solicitation in December for the effort, which aims to provide the “common, enduring ground infrastructure and resources” for the different experimental missions and demonstrations it’s planning for — including Transport Layer Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) and Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter).