Satellites for the Space Development Agency Tranche 1 Tracking program are in production at L3Harris’ manufacturing facility in Palm Bay, Florida. Credit: L3Harris
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency has awarded contracts worth about $1.75 billion to L3Harris Technologies and Sierra Space to build the next group of missile warning and missile defense satellites for its proliferated low Earth orbit constellation, the agency said July 13.
The awards cover 36 satellites for the Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 program, an expansion of the Tracking Layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, or PWSA. The satellites are scheduled to be available for launch by the end of 2028.
The contracts mark another step in the Pentagon’s effort to build a large network of low Earth orbit satellites capable of detecting, tracking and helping defend against ballistic and hypersonic missile threats. The constellation is expected to support the Trump administration’s proposed Golden Dome missile defense initiative by providing space-based missile warning and tracking data.
L3Harris was awarded a contract worth about $955 million to build 18 missile defense satellites equipped with sensors similar to the Missile Defense Agency’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, or HBTSS, across two orbital planes.
