Space Technology Development and Prototyping

Abstract

The Space Development Agency (SDA) is established to develop the next generation space architecture to enable U.S. military operations to be responsive to emerging multi-domain threats against our national security. To achieve that goal, the SDA will help inform the Department's decision to develop and implement a proliferated architecture enabled by lower-cost, commercially-derived spacecraft and routine space access, shift the Department to a development organization focused on experimentation, prototyping, and accelerated fielding, and change the Department to a concentrated, decoupled structure to generate speed. The SDA will manage, direct, and execute the development of the space capabilities in accordance with DoD’s Space Vision and field space capabilities at speed and scale, with the following goals: •bold breakthroughs designed to obsolesce our competitors, •technology maturation and systems engineering, •lean engineering, manufacturing, and support, •industrial base expansion; streamlined development and acquisition process, and •increased acquisition cooperation with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The SDA will rapidly deploy critical elements of the next-generation space capabilities, initially focusing on these essential capabilities: •Persistent global surveillance for advanced missile targeting, •Indications, warnings, targeting, and tracking for defense against advanced missile threats, •Alternate position, navigation, and timing (PNT) for a GPS-denied environment, •Global and near-real time space situational awareness, •Development of a deterrent capability •Responsive, resilient, common ground-based space support infrastructure (e.g., ground stations and launch capability), •Cross-domain, networked, node-independent battle management command, control, and communications (BMC3), including nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3), and •Highly-scaled, low-latency, persistent, artificial intelligence-enable global surveillance. The establishment of a communications and data transport layer in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is essential to developing a new, responsive space architecture, and will be SDA’s primary initial focus. The SDA will heavily leverage DARPA’s Blackjack program (PE 0603287E) and its plan to demonstrate a 20-satellite constellation to build this transport layer. The SDA will develop an initial wedge of sub-constellations on this transport layer to provide additional capabilities, such as advanced missile warning. This program element funds efforts to develop and demonstrate a prototype proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) communications and data transport layer and its sub-constellations in support of the DoD Space Vision.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2020
• Source ID: 1206410SDA_4_0400_PB_2020
• Change Summary Explanation: This is a new start in FY 2020.
• Service Agency Name: Space Development Agency

Entities

Organizations

• Space Development Agency

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Space
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Acquisition
• Artificial Satellites
• Battle Management
• Command And Control
• Commerce
• Cost Analysis
• Digital Communications
• Earth Orbits
• Engineering
• Low Earth Orbits
• Military Operations
• Satellite Constellations
• Situational Awareness
• Space Based
• Space Situational Awareness
• Space Systems
• Systems Engineering

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering.
• Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.

Technology Areas

• AI & ML
• AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
• Space
• Space - Satellites