The Defense Department wants missile-tracking capability available to combatant commanders for operational use by the end of calendar year 2025, the director of the Space Development Agency said yesterday.

Derek Tournear said the agency has launched 27 demonstration satellites, while keeping one on the ground for a test bed for debugging and software updates to those satellites in geosynchronous low Earth orbit at a Defense News Conference event in Arlington, Virginia. 

During the discussion of advances in missile tracking from space using data transport and missile tracking satellites, Tournear said the Space Development Agency is still in tranche 0, which means the early stages of satellite deployment for capability demonstrations. 

These satellites for national security are referred to as PWSA, or proliferated warfighter space architecture. 

Tranche 0 proved that Link 16 from space to warfighter is feasible, he said. Link 16 is a secure military communications system that allows the exchange of real-time tactical data among military aircraft, ships and ground forces by U.S. and coalition forces.

Link 16 from space has “never been done before,” he said. It was demonstrated with Australian partners and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and airframe. Future tests will include Norway, Tournear said. 

The next question the agency will address is: Can you do the missile-tracking mission from low Earth orbit satellites with all of the space clutter in that orbit with a dim-appearing missile in flight in real time? 

The answer is yes. There’s been some success zeroing in on missile or rocket “targets of opportunity,” including a SpaceX launch and some classified missile launches that can’t be discussed, he said. 

Another question answered by tranche 0: Can DOD form an optical network in low Earth orbit using laser communications? “Last night, it was actually demonstrated. Two tracking satellites did that, acquiring and maintaining links for several hours,” he said.

Tranche 1 should be initiated around the end of this calendar year or a little after.  

Tranche 2 is in the design phase, with launch scheduled to begin around September 2026. 

Tranche 3 work is ongoing. These satellites have about a five-year design life, so tranche 3 will need to replenish some of the earlier satellites. 

Tournear noted that his agency is a lean, fast-paced, results-driven organization that is cost-effective, and fully accountable to and supported by Congress.

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