The Space Development Agency (SDA) has chosen 19 companies to compete for future contracts under a new program aimed at quickly bringing on new contractors for defense demonstration missions. Each company will receive an initial $20,000 to cover administrative costs.
These companies are preapproved to bid on future prototype missions to support the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a large planned satellite constellation in low Earth orbit that will provide missile tracking and advanced communications capabilities for the Department of Defense (DOD).
The Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO (HALO) program awardees will compete on programs related to a group of planned satellites in the PWSA known as the Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES). T2DES is expected to include around 20 satellites configured into several variants. HALO contracts will focus on rapid, end-to-end mission demonstrations involving the launch of 2 identical satellites between 12 and 18 months after the award date.
These satellites will enhance the Tranche 2 transport layer, which is a vast constellation of over 200 satellites that will provide high-speed communications and data relays for the DOD.
Apart from the Tranche 2 transport layer, HALO awardees will also have the opportunity to compete for other missions supporting PWSA, such as launch or on-orbit transport capabilities. For example, Firefly mentioned that its upcoming Elytra orbital transfer vehicle could assist in achieving the SDA’s objectives.
Various companies praised the SDA for introducing the program. CesiumAstro’s VP of business development, Trey Pappas, stated, “This selection underscores our commitment to innovation in space technology and our readiness to support SDA’s mission of enhancing national security through advanced space capabilities.”
The 19 selected companies include startups like Apex, Capella Space, CesiumAstro, Firefly Aerospace, Impulse Space, LeoStella, Momentus, Muon Space, SpaceX, and Turion Space. Established companies like Airbus, AST SpaceMobile, Astro Digital, Geneva Technologies, Kepler Communications, Kuiper Government Solutions, NovaWurks, Terran Orbital, and York Space Systems were also chosen.
The Space Development Agency has already awarded hundreds of millions in contracts to private companies to help establish a missile tracking and communications satellite constellation in low Earth orbit. Programs like HALO aim to enable nontraditional defense contractors to compete for these lucrative awards. The SDA plans to grant multiple contracts to vendors in the HALO program to enhance national security through advanced space capabilities.
