SDA awards contracts to L3Harris, SpaceX for WFOV tracking satellites

摘要

The Space Development Agency today announced awards to L3Harris and SpaceX to develop missile tracking and detection satellites for the first tranche of the agency's tracking layer. L3Harris received a $193 million award and SpaceX's contract - its first for national security satellite development - is valued at $149 million. Each company will develop and deliver four satellites. The satellites, part of SDA's "Tranche 0" capability, will have a WFOV payload sensor and an optical crosslink that allows it to relay data to other space vehicles. SDA's director, Derek Tournear, said in a statement that today's awards represent a "next step" toward fielding the National Defense Space Architecture. "The SDA Tracking Layer is an integral part of the [Defense] Department's overall overhead persistent infrared strategy to detect, track, and defeat advanced missile threats," Tournear said in a statement. "We are confident these fixed-price awards will help us deliver the initial tranche of the Tracking Layer on schedule."