SDA's HALO initiative casts wide net for future satellite development

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 14 February 2024. (US Space Force)

The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) has opened its doors to “non-traditional” space development companies to assist the agency in prototype development of new low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) initiative.

Agency officials announced that 19 companies would participate in its Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (HALO) programme, specifically designed “to solicit and rapidly award prototype demonstrations and experimentation to support future tranches” of the PWSA, according to a 23 October SDA statement.

The prototype test and demonstration efforts carried out under the HALO effort will directly inform the agency's PWSA Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) projects, according to SDA Director Derek Tournear. The HALO programme “enables SDA to quickly compete, build, and fly demonstration missions to burn down risk for the future of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture”, Tournear said in the statement.

Prototype development under HALO will not only benefit ongoing T2DES efforts but also “build a broader base of vendors that can compete for work on operational layers of future tranches”, the SDA chief added.

Patterned after an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ)-type contract, the 19 vendors selected to participate in the HALO industry pool will each receive an initial USD20,000 other transactions (OT) contract “to defray administrative and travel expenses” associated with prototype test and development efforts, agency officials said. More importantly, each of the 19 HALO awardees will be “eligible to compete for future HALO demonstration prototype orders” for T2DES or other long-term PWSA initiatives, the statement noted.