U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency Director Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo gave the keynote Aug. 24 at the Small Satellite Conference in Salt Lake City. Credit: SpaceNews/Debra Werner
SALT LAKE CITY – Northrop Grumman satellites are preparing for launch into the Pentagon’s first operational military data network in low-Earth orbit, U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency Director Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo said Aug. 24 at the Small Satellite Conference.
“I’m hoping that we can get the first plane of Northrop Grumman satellites up there in the next couple of weeks,” said Sandhoo, who is also the Space Force missile warning and tracking portfolio acquisition executive.
After a months-long pause, SDA is filling out the Tranche 1 Transport Layer, the communications backbone of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). Two planes of York Space Systems satellites and one plane of Lockheed Martin spacecraft are in Tranche 1.
With its second plane, he said, York spacecraft performance improved significantly.
