Lockheed, Northrop, And York Space Win $1.8 Bln DoD Contract

(RTTNews) - The Space Development Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT), Northrop Grumman Co., (NOC), and York Space System contracts worth $1.8 billion to build 126 low-orbit satellites to improve military communication on February 28.

The SDA, a part of the Department of Defense, chose the three companies from eight applicants for the project. Lockheed Martin received $700 million, Northrop Grumman got $692 million while York Space System received $382 million. Each company will have to make 42 satellites by 2024 for the project called Transport Layer Tranche 1.

According to reports, the SDA is planning to build an internet-in-space facility in the lower orbit of Earth which will be used for fluid communication, tracking, and surveillance by the defense. As a part of the first stage or Tranche 0, the company had already ordered 20 such satellites from Lockheed and York Space back in 2020.

SDA director Derek Tournear has said that the agency plans to launch the satellites starting from September 2024 in six batches with one batch per month. "SDA is changing the landscape for the acquisition of national defense space capabilities by capitalizing on a unique business model that harnesses commercial development to achieve a proliferated low Earth orbit architecture that enhances resilience and lowers latency to process and move data from a sensor to shooter," said Tournear.

The satellites will create a mesh network f laser links in the lower orbit with the help of which it will be very simple for the satellites to talk to each other and pass data. The satellites are built in a way that irrespective of the manufacturers, the data transfer will be seamless. This technology will also reduce the threat of malware significantly as the cost of taking down so many systems will be huge. The SDA will be able to locate, survey, and engage with any object it deems as a threat.

"We want to be able to detect, track and target anything that is a mobile missile launcher or ship and be able to send those targeting solutions directly down to a weapons platform," added Tournear.

The solicitation of the contract was done under the Other Transaction Authority or OTA approach after Maxar Technologies protested in October that the specifications of the project are biased for some companies during its traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation or FAR approach.