The Space Development Agency (SDA) has recently initiated its experimental satellite program, achieving a record-fast transition to full operational mode. This change marks what officials consider a promising start for an ambitious military space strategy.
The first satellite, Dragoon, was launched on June 23 and is part of a planned set of 12 satellites under the SDA’s Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES). This program is designed to establish the viability of a constellation consisting of hundreds of low-Earth orbit military satellites.
SDA Director Derek Tournear expressed that Dragoon’s primary missions involve validating the design and capacity of the York satellite bus that supports the spacecraft, while also serving as a pathfinder for subsequent Tranche 1 satellites scheduled for launch later this summer. “In internal reviews, people were saying, ‘You guys are doing great work, but you really need to make sure that you burn down some of your tech risk before you do your large tranches,’” Tournear stated on June 26 at the Defense One Tech Summit in Arlington, Virginia. He emphasized that the demonstration technology will directly contribute to Tranche 2.
Following the Dragoon mission, a Tranche 2 beta mission will focus on tactical communications satellites for theater operations as the SDA constructs its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which aims to furnish a robust transport layer for military operations.
Tournear noted the impressive performance of the Dragoon model, which was able to transition from safe mode to operational mode in just four days, a process that historically required approximately four months. He highlighted the effectiveness of a spiral development model that fosters continuous learning during the satellite production cycle.
Despite starting the T1DES program later than planned, the SDA is not only expediting launch and operations but also the acquisition process, with order-to-orbit timelines for the prototype Tranche 0 ranging from 27 to 40 months. In contrast, traditional Defense Department acquisitions typically span close to eight years.
The faster acquisition results align better with the rapid pace at which companies are currently developing satellites. Tournear described a vision for a network of AI-enabled satellites that can communicate through laser links, with onboard processors capable of complex computations, effectively transforming the transport layer into what he called a federated cloud computer in space.
The capability for onboard data processing and fusion is critical for future AI applications and some autonomous operations. Bill Vass, CTO at Booz Allen Hamilton, pointed out that commercial space initiatives are advancing rapidly to facilitate new methods of data communication between defense systems and commercial clouds.
Tournear further elaborated that the initial batch of 12 prototype satellites will support a variety of military functions, including tactical communications and missile tracking. These functionalities will integrate into a larger Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, intended to enhance operational effectiveness and resilience for over 10,000 radios deployed among troops.
The low-Earth orbit constellation will complement existing U.S. military satellite systems, such as the Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS), which was first launched in 2007 to provide broadband communications for U.S. forces. Upcoming satellites WGS-11 and WGS-12 are scheduled for launches in 2025 and 2027, respectively. Concurrently, the Space Force is developing its Resilient Missile Warning/Tracking constellation in medium Earth orbit.
Tournear emphasized that resilience is crucial as space becomes an increasingly contested domain, stating, “one of the ways that you can assure that you can provide that capability to the warfighter is to proliferate.” The integration of data from low, medium, and geostationary orbits will offer enhanced missile warning, tracking, and defense capacities for military operations.
