Northrop Grumman will supply 36 satellites for SDA's Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta Data Transport Layer. NORTHROP GRUMMAN

Lockheed, Northrop share $1.5B contract for new comms satellites

By Patrick Tucker, Published by Defense One, 21 August 2023 Seventy-two satellites, which will begin launching in 2026, will be “the space backbone for the Joint All Domain Command and Control.” The Space Development Agency awarded Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin contracts to each build 36 satellites to carry data in

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Space Development Agency to consider commercial LEO options to augment DoD network

By Sandra Erwin, Publishd by Space News, 17 August 2023 SpaceX, Kuiper, Aalyria were selected to conduct three-month studies WASHINGTON — SpaceX, Kuiper Government Solutions and Aalyria Technologies were selected for market-research studies on how commercial systems could add capacity to the military’s future low Earth orbit constellation.  The U.S.

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SDA asks industry for 100 satellites in latest move toward ‘global’ data constellation

The Space Development Agency will begin launching its first operational data transport satellites in 2024, part of the Space Force’s effort to build a space version of the internet. (Image: Northrop Grumman) By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 29 June 2023 The plan is to grant two contractors Other

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Northrop Grumman gets $80 million Air Force contract for satcom experiments

By Sandra Erwin, Published by SpaceNews, 2 June 2023 The four-year contract is part of the DEUCSI (Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet) program run by the Air Force Research Laboratory. It’s a project to demonstrate the integration of commercial space internet services with military platforms and weapon systems. WASHINGTON

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Northrop Grumman clears key design hurdle for military satellites in record time

By Chris Young, Published by Interesting Engineering, 19 April 2023 "Our T1TL solution builds on our decades of end-to-end mission expertise." Northrop Grumman completed a critical design review of a Space Development Agency (SDA) communications satellite in only 13 months. As SpaceNews points out, that is a fraction of the

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The atmospheric reentry process generates extreme heat and mechanical loads, which lead to the satellite's disintegration at the altitude of about 45 miles. (Image credit: ESA)

Space debris problem spurs a bold change in US government regulations

By Elizabeth Howell, Publishd by Space.com, 12 April 2023 The Federal Communications Commission plans to streamline its space activities to meet fast-growing space safety needs. The fast-growing space debris issue is top of mind at a new space-focused division of the U.S. government. "Satellite and orbital debris rules" will be one of

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