US awards $1.5 billion in deals for Transport Layer satellites
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will each build 36 satellites for US Space Development Agency's T2TL satellite constellation. (Image: Northrop Grumman)
The US Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin contracts to build and operate the Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) - Beta satellite constellation which will provide global communications access and encrypted connectivity.
Lockheed Martin will receive $816 million and Northrop Grumman almost $733 million to each build 36 satellites which will form the foundation of T2TL – Beta variant prototype constellation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
SDA awarded these firm-fixed priced Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements to the two companies to each build and operate three orbital planes of 12 satellites each, with the first plane ready for launch by September 2026.
The T2TL – Beta space vehicles will provide global communications access and deliver persistent global encrypted connectivity to support missions like BLoS targeting and warning and tracking of advance missile threats.
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The T2TL features multiple space vehicle and mission configuration variants procured through a multi-solicitation and multi-vendor acquisition approach.
The PWSA Transport Layer will provide multi-band global communications access and persistent encrypted connectivity for warfighter missions. The Transport Layer will be the space backbone for the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) infrastructure with low-latency data transport, sensor-to-shooter connectivity, and tactical satellite communication (TACSATCOM) direct to platform.
SDA director, Derek Tournear said: ‘The Beta variant of the T2TL vehicles are similar to Tranche 1 Transport Layer vehicles while also integrating advanced tactical communication technology demonstrated by the Tranche 1 Development and Experimentation System.’
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