The awards, issued under Other Transaction Authority, go to Lockheed Martin of Sunnyvale California, Rocket Lab USA of Long Beach California, Northrop Grumman of Redondo Beach California and L3Harris Technologies of Fort Wayne Indiana. Each team will deliver 18 space vehicles equipped with infrared payloads and communications systems to support missile warning, missile tracking and missile defense missions, with launches planned in fiscal year 2029.
According to SDA Acting Director Gurpartap "GP" Sandhoo, integrating the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer with the Transport Layer is intended to increase coverage and accuracy for closing kill chains against advanced threats. "The constellation will include a mix of missile warning and missile tracking, with half the constellation's payloads supporting advanced missile defense missions to pace evolving threats. 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. This is a prime example of spiral development: the ability to rapidly integrate the next generation of technologies, and to proliferate the most impactful capabilities for increased capacity and lethality."
Under the agreements, Lockheed Martin will provide 18 space vehicles carrying missile warning, tracking and defense payloads with a total potential value of more than 1 billion dollars. The company notes that this Tranche 3 award builds on its earlier Tranche 2 Tracking Layer contract and contributes to the broader Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, where Lockheed Martin is now on contract for 124 space vehicles across Tracking and Transport layers, including 21 Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites already launched and 21 more in production.
Lockheed Martin plans to manufacture the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites at its SmallSat Processing and Delivery Center in Colorado, using a production approach that relies on a maturing supply chain and satellite buses supplied by Terran Orbital. Its Tracking Layer work leverages prior investment in secure networks, test assets and a dedicated small satellite production line intended to shorten development timelines and maintain a rapid production tempo.
Rocket Lab USA will deliver 18 missile warning, tracking and defense satellites under an agreement valued at about 805 million dollars, while Northrop Grumman will supply 18 missile warning and missile tracking satellites for approximately 764 million dollars. L3Harris Technologies will furnish 18 missile warning and missile tracking space vehicles under an agreement with a potential value near 843 million dollars.
Northrop Grumman states that its Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites are designed to accelerate global detection, warning and tracking of hypersonic weapons and advanced missiles from launch through interception. The company plans to provide precision fire-control sensing data accurate enough to support intercept operations, and to route those data to decision makers through the Transport Layer mesh communications network.
The Tranche 3 award brings Northrop Grumman's total PWSA manifest to 150 satellites across Tranches 1, 2 and 3, covering both tracking and transport missions. Northrop Grumman highlights more than 30,000 square feet of dedicated PWSA manufacturing space for producing its 18 Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites with infrared sensors, with the first plane of its Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites scheduled to launch in early 2026.
The Tranche 3 Tracking Layer will be organized across eight orbital planes and builds on Tranches 1 and 2 by extending and improving coverage for global, persistent indication, detection, warning, tracking and identification of conventional and advanced missile threats, including hypersonic systems. Each spacecraft will carry an infrared mission payload, optical communication terminals, Ka-band communications payloads and an S-band backup telemetry, tracking and command system to support resilient operations.
All Tracking Layer satellites will interoperate with other elements of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, including the Transport Layer space vehicles, and will be controlled through a common ground system. The constellation is intended to integrate its missile warning and tracking data with the Transport Layer's low latency mesh communications network to deliver mission data directly over tactical data links and support advanced missile tracking from proliferated low Earth orbit.
Beyond the SDA awards, the Missile Defense Agency has separately selected Ursa Space Systems for its Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, which has a ceiling of 151 billion dollars and covers a broad range of work areas. Under SHIELD, Ursa Space will contribute satellite-based analytics and AI- and machine-learning-enabled applications in support of a multi-domain defense architecture intended to detect, track, intercept and defeat ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles and other aerial threats across all phases of flight.
The SHIELD contract is structured to support rapid delivery of capabilities using digital engineering, open systems architectures, model-based systems engineering and agile processes, spanning both classified and unclassified programs. MDA's requirement under SHIELD is to maintain continuous, layered protection of the U.S. homeland, deployed forces, allies and partners against threats originating from land, sea, air, space or cyberspace, aligning with the broader move toward proliferated, networked sensing and defense architectures signaled by SDA's Tracking Layer awards.
Related Links
Space Development Agency
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com
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