Lockheed Martin secures tracking layer contract from Space Development Agency

Lockheed Martin won a Space Development Agency contract to supply 18 space vehicles for the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer, an award with a potential value of more than $1 billion that expanded the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

The agreement built on an earlier Tranche 2 Tracking Layer award and extended Lockheed Martin's work across the Space Domain Awareness (SDA)'s Tracking Layer and Transport Layer programs; with this award, Lockheed Martin is on contract with the SDA for 124 space vehicles, and the company launched 21 Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites in October with 21 more in production.

The Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites were described as providing missile warning, tracking and defense capabilities within a layered network of missile defense and military communications satellites operating in LEO Constellation (Low Earth Orbit) (LEO), and the space vehicles were said to turn fire–control–quality tracks into actionable engagements.

Lockheed Martin's Tracking Layer work stemmed from years of investment in secure networks, test assets and a Small Satellite (SmallSat) production center, and the company said those investments allowed earlier integration and maturation of new technologies to reduce risk and accelerate program and production schedules; satellite buses for the program were noted as being built by Terran Orbital and space vehicles were to be manufactured at Lockheed Martin's SmallSat Processing & Delivery Center in Colorado.

“Lockheed Martin's ongoing investments and evolving practices demonstrate our commitment to supporting the SDA's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” said Joe Rickers, vice president of Transport, Tracking and Warning at Lockheed Martin. “These innovative approaches position Lockheed Martin to meet the warfighter's urgent need for a proliferated missile defense constellation.”

Lockheed Martin described plans that the work would help enable global, persistent indication, detection, warning, tracking and identification of conventional and advanced missile threats, including hypersonic systems.