The Space Development Agency (SDA) began as a directorate of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

's office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering ( OUSD (R&E)) which supports space development in the interests of U.S.

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

. The SDA was conceived by

Mike Griffin Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

and established in 2019 after his appointment to USD (R&E) early in the

Trump Administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

. A top priority is to implement the National Defense Space Architecture ( NDSA), using

spiral model The spiral model is a risk-driven software development process model. Based on the unique risk patterns of a given project, the spiral model guides a team to adopt elements of one or more process models, such as incremental, waterfall, or evolut ...

s for its development method. While initial leadership sought more aggressive capabilities including space-based interceptors similar to the

Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...

, the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

has since refocused on sensing and

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

. The SDA transferred to the

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

October 1, 2022. Orbitalaltitudes

By design,USD(R&E)
(20 Nov 2020) DOD INSTRUCTION 5000.88: ENGINEERING OF DEFENSE SYSTEMS
/ref> the functions for acquisition and sustainment (A&S) are the responsibility of another under secretary of defense; this separation of function decouples the technology development of a working prototype system, even the systems as complicated as those taken on by the SDA, from overcomplication induced by the processes of the DoD.

Projects and research

Among the SDA projects: *"Optical communications between satellites, and from satellites to a military drone aircraft". Including the CubeSat based

Laser Interconnect and Networking Communication System Laser Interconnect and Networking Communications System (LINCS) is a test of laser communication in space using two cubesats launched in June 2021. Background It was built by General Atomics for the US DOD's Space Development Agency. The two cub ...

(LINCS). * Provide a resilient, persistent response to ballistic missile detection * Build the JADC2Colin Clar
(4 Jun 2021) SecDef OKs JADC2 Strategy: Now OSD Has ‘Teeth’
Approved 13 May 2021 satellite backbone using the National Defense Space Architecture ( NDSA):Stew Magnuson (19 September 2019) **The

satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one sa ...

s are in near-polar

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

. Hundreds of satellites are expected by the end of the 2020s. "Would you be able to take out some of these satellites? Probably. Would you be able to take out ''all of'' these satellites? Probably not, before you are going to have a really bad day."—Derek Tournear ** NExT (National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA) Experimental Testbed) is a test bed of 10 space vehicles and associated mission-enabling ground systems, for realizing various aspects of the NDSA, in miniature, before NDSA's larger, later scheduled deployments. In particular, the capability to retain and/or relay messages for

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

(C2) can then be demonstrated on the NExT test bed, before deployment at scale.SD
(3 Jun 2022) SDA Seeks Industry Feedback through DRAFT Solicitation for NExT (National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA) Experimental Testbed)
10 space vehicles and associated mission-enabling ground systems *as reported by Courtney Albo
(16 Jun 2022) Space Development Agency plans for 'enduring' satellite experimentation testbed
/ref> **Rapid response launch proliferated C2;C Todd Lope
(2 May 2021) On-Time Delivery Top Priority at Space Development Agency
/ref> SDA remains the rapid launch proliferated arm for the Space Force. **#User equipment (

Earth station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

s and weapon systems) SDA has selected the "ground Operations and Integration (O&I) segment for Tranche 1". **#

Transport layer In computer networking, the transport layer is a conceptual division of methods in the layered architecture of protocols in the network stack in the Internet protocol suite and the OSI model. The protocols of this layer provide end-to-end ...

intersatellite dataSDA.mi
Transport layer
/ref> Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL): T1TL forms a

mesh network A mesh network is a local area network topology in which the infrastructure nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate wit ...

in a constellation of small satellites in Low earth orbit (LEO). Each satellite would have 4 optical links. SDA may have awarded 3 contracts totalling $1.8 billion to 3 firms, each for 42 satellites to be launched by September 2024. However, there is still a funding constraint in the FY2022 budget.Theresa Hitchen
(1 Mar 2022) Budget roadblock delaying Pentagon satellite program to track hypersonic missiles
$750 million in question in FY2022 budget. An alternative, Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) can be let for 18 satellites.Theresa Hitchens
(6 Oct 2022) York scores SDA contract worth up to $200M for experimental communications satellites
T1DES capabilities test (of UHF/S-band frequencies) using 12 satellites; provides data for a March 2023 decision on Tranche2 **#Tracking layer handles launched items,SDA.mi
Tracking layer
/ref> connects to existing user equipment Two contractors will each build 14 satellites for the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer as of 16 July 2022; these satellites will be in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by 2025; hundreds of satellites are planned for the Tracking layer.Theresa Hitchens
(18 July 2022) L3Harris, Northrop score $1.3B in SDA hypersonic missile tracking contracts
/ref> The Tracking Layer is capable of tracking hypersonic missiles throughout their flight, by their heat signatures. **#Custody layer handles items not yet launched from objects as big as a truck,SDA.mi
Custody layer
/ref> connects to existing user equipment **#Battle management ("autonomy, tipping and queuing and data fusion")Theresa Hitchen
(15 Dec 2021) NGA Gears Up For All Domain Ops
references tipping and queuing of the data sensors and sources of the NGA's intelligence community **#Navigation layer is not finalized, provides navigation & launch data **#Deterrence layer is

situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status. An alternative definition is tha ...

cislunar Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, predo ...

space vehicles

Launches

SDA's first Tranche 0 launch had been scheduled for December 2022; however tests of 8 of the satellites that had been expected to launch indicated each had a noisy power supply. The contractor, York Space Systems will retrofit filters on the satellites at no cost to the government; the Tranche 0 launch that had been scheduled for December 2022 has been delayed until March 2023 for 10 satellites, including the 8 from York Space Systems. The second Tranche 0 launch, which had been scheduled for March 2023 is now delayed to June 2023 at the earliest. As of December 2022, a June 2023 launch is now planned for the remaining 18 satellites in Tranche 0.Sandra Erwin
(9 Dec 2022) Space Development Agency’s first launch slips to March due to satellite glitch

List of directors

Notes and References

{{United States Department of Defense United States Department of Defense agencies

Projects and research

Launches

List of directors

See also

Notes and References