The U.S. Space Force has selected five companies to demonstrate that its emerging Space Data Network can connect commercial satellite systems developed by different providers.
Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems will each receive a $12 million award package. The packages combine fixed-price contracts with agreements issued under Other Transaction Authority.
The effort is being managed by the Space Systems Command office responsible for the acquisition portfolio covering space-based sensing and targeting.
Testing interoperability between different space systems
The primary goal of the initiative is to validate integration methods and demonstrate that separate commercial systems can communicate seamlessly with the core Space Data Network, or SDN.
The testing will cover both ground-to-space and space-to-space data transport. The participating companies will also be required to demonstrate that their systems can connect to the future SDN backbone constellation.
The program will include on-orbit testing of high-speed optical communications routing, along with detailed assessments of physical, electrical and data interfaces.
By establishing common standards, the Space Force aims to create a secure and repeatable technical baseline that will allow multiple types of commercial satellites to operate within the same network.
A network of networks for rapid military communications
The Space Data Network is being developed as a network of interconnected space systems designed to provide low-latency, high-speed communications between U.S. military sensors and weapons platforms.
The infrastructure could play a key role in the Golden Dome initiative, the U.S. effort to develop a broad missile-defense architecture.
In May, the Space Force awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to build the satellite constellation that will form the SDN backbone. The network, previously known as MILNET, will operate in low Earth orbit and relay data between different types of satellites.
The program will be implemented in two phases
The new initiative is divided into two separate stages.
The first phase will focus on demonstrating data transport between ground stations and satellites, as well as between satellites in orbit. Contractors will also test the ability of their systems to connect with the SDN backbone.
This phase is being conducted through fixed-price contracts with performance periods ranging from six to nine months. Each contract is valued at $10 million.
The second phase will turn the experimental connections into operational orbital capabilities. To support that effort, the Space Force has issued OTA agreements worth $2 million each.
The funding will help support the development and deployment of satellites known as Space Exchange Points, or SEPs.
SEP satellites will serve as orbital routers
SEP satellites will function as orbital routers, allowing commercial networks that cannot directly communicate with one another—and government satellite systems—to connect to the SDN backbone.
The SEP initiative will also support the deployment of prototype payloads developed under the Enterprise Space Terminal program, a multiyear effort involving multiple vendors.
The EST program was created to develop optical terminals based on a government-owned communications standard. These terminals are intended to operate across different orbital regimes.
Common standards could reduce integration costs
The Space Force wants to avoid a situation in which every new communications payload must be redesigned for a specific satellite platform.
Establishing and implementing common standards at an early stage should allow communications payloads to be integrated onto spacecraft developed by different manufacturers without extensive and costly modifications.
The long-term objective is to create a plug-and-play space ecosystem in which proven commercial satellites and systems can be connected to the U.S. military network more rapidly.
Such an approach could lower entry barriers for established companies and emerging commercial providers, while accelerating the expansion of the network and broadening the range of available technologies.
