The US Department of Defense (DoD) is soliciting industry proposals for the development and fielding of a new network of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, designed specifically to detect, track, and provide advanced warning against hypersonic weapons launched against US armed forces or allied targets.
The request for proposals (RFP) issued by the Pentagonâs Space Development Agency (SDA) to industry on 15 June is seeking programme proposals in support of the early warning LEO satellite network for advanced missile threats, known in agency parlance as the Tracking Layer. The Tracking Layer is only one element of the SDAâs multi-layer National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA) strategy to detect, identify, and deter potential terrestrial and space-based threats.
Those additional layers include the Battle Management Layer, which is designed to provide âarchitecture taskingâ, mission command and control, and data dissemination to support âtime-sensitive kill chain closures at campaign scalesâ, according to SDA documents. Agency officials envision the Navigation Layer to provide US armed forces alternative position, navigation, and timing (A-PNT) capabilities in GPS-denied environments, the documents stated.
The Deterrence Layer will foster platforms and technologies to âdeter hostile action in deep spaceâ beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), while space-based programmes developed under the Support Layer will âenable ground and launch segmentsâ to provide overarching support to the SNAâs responsive space architecture, the documents said. The Transport Layer, as envisioned under the SDA strategy will provide space-based âassured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivityâ to US armed forces across the globe, SDA officials said in the documents. Finally, the Custody Layer will leverage LEO satellite networks to provide comprehensive âall-weather custody of time sensitive, left-of-launchâ surface mobile targets, such as missile launchers, the documents added.
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