SDA Hands Out $3.5B for 72 New Missile Tracking and Defense Satellites

The Space Force’s Space Development Agency announced $3.5 billion in contract awards to four companies to build a total of 72 missile warning and tracking satellites—the largest deal to date for its low-Earth orbit constellation.

The agency announced Dec. 19 that Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, and Rocket Lab will produce 18 satellites each for Tranche 3 of its missile tracking satellite fleet over the next three years. The companies will provide slightly different payloads and their contract values vary: 

Lockheed’s contract is for $1.1 billion for missile warning, tracking, and defense satellites 
Rocket Lab’s contract is for $805 million for missile warning, tracking, and defense satellites
Northrop’s contract is for $764 million for just missile warning and missile tracking
L3Harris’s contract is for $843 million for just missile warning and missile tracking

SDA is in the process of building out its Proliferated Space Warfighter Architecture, or PWSA—a constellation of data transport and missile warning and defense satellites in low-Earth orbit. To keep pace with a changing threat environment and evolving technology, the agency wants to field the spacecraft in batches, or tranches, every two years. 

It currently has eight missile warning and tracking and 19 data transport satellites in orbit as part of its Tranche 0 experimental constellation and is in the midst of a 10-month campaign to launch 28 more missile warning and tracking spacecraft and 126 communication satellites as part of Tranche 1.  

The tracking layer will eventually form a global network of missile warning satellites in low-Earth orbit, a constellation that is expected to play a key role in the Pentagon’s effort to build an advanced missile shield called Golden Dome. 

The agency’s acting director, Gurpartap Sandhoo, said in a statement that the Tranche 3 satellites will “significantly increase” SDA’s coverage and improve the accuracy of its tracking constellation. The spacecraft are slated to launch in fiscal 2029. 

“The addition of these satellites will achieve near-continuous global coverage for missile warning and tracking, along with payloads capable of generating fire control-quality tracks for missile defense,” Sandhoo said in a Dec. 19 statement. 

Missile warning, tracking, and defense are three interconnected and yet distinct missions. Missile warning sensors alert users that a missile has been launched. Missile tracking systems follow those missiles as they fly. Missile defense sensors provide the data necessary for defensive systems like interceptors to take out the missile.

The Tranche 3 awards were expected to be released in two batches—one in October and one in December. That plan was delayed slightly during the government shutdown when the Pentagon shifted some of the money for the program to pay service members during the six-week funding lapse.  

The four companies selected for Tranche 3 are all existing SDA vendors, though their involvement in past tracking layer tranches varies. L3Harris is the only firm who has been tapped for each tranche. The company recently announced it had reached “full-scale production” of advanced missile tracking satellites at its Palm Bay, Fla., facility. The firm expanded its production floor in August to make room for more SDA satellites as well as other sensors and high-need capabilities the Defense Department may want to tap for Golden Dome.  

“We are in full-rate production,” Ed Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems at L3Harris, told reporters during a Dec. 10 tour of the facility. “There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”  

Zoiss said that with SDA’s tranches expanding to include higher numbers of satellites, industry is now readying for continuous production. 

For Rocket Lab, Tranche 3 is its first foray into building missile warning and tracking spacecraft for SDA. The firm, which is expanding its focus from launch to satellite production, earned a contract in January 2024 to build 18 Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites. 

Northrop Grumman’s award is its first tracking layer contract since Tranche 1, where it is providing 16 satellites. Lockheed, meanwhile, is providing satellites for all but Tranche 0.  

“Lockheed Martin’s work on the Tracking Layer stems from years of investment in secure networks, test assets, and a dedicated small satellite production center,” the company said in a statement. “These investments have allowed Lockheed Martin to integrate and mature new technologies earlier in the development cycle, reducing risk and ultimately accelerating program and production schedules.” 

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misattributed a quote from L3Harris President of Space & Airborne Systems Ed Zoiss.