The relay satellites, which the SDA calls the transport layer, are also equipped with KA band and laser communication terminals for higher bandwidth connectivity.
“What the transport layer does is that it extends beyond the line of sight,” said Sandhoo. “Now you are not only able to talk to your link 16 radios within a few kilometers, (but) we can use room to say, from Hawaii to Guam go with the help of those tactical radios, using a space layer.”
The “Tranche 1” architecture of the Space Development Agency comprises 154 operational satellites, 126 for data relay and 28 for following rockets. With this illustration, the SDA does its best to show how the complex architecture should work.
Credit: Space Development Agency
Another series of SDA -relay satellites will be launched next month and more will go to space in November. All in all, it takes 10 launches to fully use the SDAs Tranche 1 Constellation. Six of those missions will wear data -relay satellites, and four will wear satellites with sensors to detect and follow rocket launches. The Pentagon selected various contractors to build the satellites, so the army is not dependent on a single company. The builders of the operational satellites of the SDA include York, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Hris.
“We will increase coverage if we get the rest of those launches on the track,” said Michael Eppolito, the acting deputy director of the SDA.
The satellites will connect to each other with the help of inter satellite laser connections, creating a mesh network with sufficient range to offer regional communication, rocket warning and to focus on the western Pilt Ocean that starts in 2027. US Indo-Pacand is the first to be the operations to be the operations for the operations to be the operations for the operations to be the operations in this region for the operations to be the operations in order to be the operations for the operations for the operations to command it in order to be the operations for the operations for the operations for the operations for the operations for the operations for the operations to command it to command the operations for the operations for the operations in order for the operations in order for the operations in order for the operations in order to command it in order for the operations. SDA's satellite conellation.
This is not incidental. American officials see China as the primary strategic threat of the country, and Indo-Pacific Command would be in the front line of any future conflict between Chinese and American troops. The SDA has contracts for more than 270 second generation or tranches 2 satellites to further expand the range of the network. There is also a third generation in the making, but the Pentagon has paused part of the SDAs Tranche 3 program to evaluate other architectures, including one offered by SpaceX.
Teaching tactical operators to use the new possibilities offered by the satellite fleet of the SDA can be just as challenging as building the network itself. To do this, the Pentagon plans to place soldiers, sailors, kites and marines via “Warfighter Immersion” training that starts next year. With this training, the American troops can “get used to using space from this construct,” said Sandhoo.
