Lockheed Martin’s latest space vehicles will support the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), aiming to identify and track emerging ballistic threats in the age of a hypersonic glide missile arms race.
The US Defense Department continually seeks a top view of incoming threats from the Arctic to near-Earth orbit. Longtime defense contractor Lockheed Martin is aiding that goal by supplying satellites in the latest phase of a decades-long plan to improve the US military’s orbital information infrastructure.
Lockheed Martin Supports the T2 Tracking Layer
The Space Development Agency, an organization under the United States Space Force, was established in 2019 to hasten the procurement and delivery of disruptive space technologies. It focuses on continuing Strategic Defense Initiative-style orbital defense objectives through the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) network. PWSA is divided into three layers named Tranches, consisting of satellite constellations to support the information needs of US warfighters.
Tranche 0, the “Warfighter Immersion Tranche,” is designed to transmit tactical and Wideband data to and from warfighters on the ground. Tranche 1, “Initial Warfighting Capability,” broadens the architecture’s scope to facilitating global encrypted communication. SDA is developing T2, “Global Persistence,” to detect, track, and identify conventional and advanced missile threats to advance early warning and missile defense capabilities, expected to be operational by 2027. The initial plan for PWSA called for layers through Tranche 4 by 2030, although the program is currently running about a year behind the initial schedule due to supply chain issues.
Space Vehicle Contracts for Lockheed Martin
Faced with hypersonic missile competition from China and Russia, SDA has awarded contracts for Tranche 2 (T2) Tracking Layer projects since early 2024. Under a 2024 contract, Lockheed Martin is providing PWSA with 16 wide-field-of-view Missile Warning/Missile Tracking (MW/MT) space vehicles with infrared sensors and two space vehicles with Fire Control/Missile Defense (FC/MD) infrared sensors capable of generating fire control-quality tracks.
The project is well underway, with a Preliminary Design Review completed ahead of a Critical Design Review planned for mid-2025. The vehicles will be assembled and tested at Lockheed’s Colorado small satellite processing facility, which can produce up to 180 small satellites a year.
“Through our prior investments and experience with the PWSA, Lockheed Martin has established the critical infrastructure and extensive body of knowledge that is essential to spiral development and executing on schedule. We look forward to Critical Design Review in mid-2025 and the subsequent fielding of this essential capability,” said Jason Boitnott, Program Director for Lockheed Martin Space’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program.
Lockheed Martin Satellite Capabilities
The T2 Tracking Layer satellites will incorporate many advanced features utilizing Lockheed’s proprietary technology. The bus, or main body of the satellite, will be supplied by Terran Orbital, a spacecraft manufacturer acquired by Lockheed Martin last year. They will run on Lockheed Martin’s SmartSat software platform, which the company says will enable operators to “dynamically add and quickly change missions in orbit through simple application uploads.” Some design elements will be outsourced, like infrared missile tracking payloads that General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will provide.
“Lockheed Martin is proud to be part of the realization of the PWSA. The rapidly evolving threat landscape warrants a rapidly fielded and resilient solution to Missile Warning/Missile Defense needs,” Boitnott said.
Hypersonic Missile Threats Globally
Although other weapons systems can be described as “hypersonic,” or exceeding Mach 5, the hypersonic glide missile is the center of the current ballistic arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2018 announcement of the Avangard hypersonic glide missile, capable of speeds above Mach 20, set off this latest race. Although existing ICBMs may reach comparable speeds at some points on their predictable journeys, the evasive maneuvers of hypersonic glide missiles and the altitudes at which they fly make them highly challenging for ground-based radar to detect and interceptors to stop.
Orbital platforms like those making up PWSA are the best answer to mitigating the sneakiness of hypersonic glide weapons by observing them from above.
While Russia is a strong player in the hypersonic race, a statement to Congress from a DIA official in 2023 indicated that China had pulled ahead in the contest. China’s Guangdong Aerodynamic Research Academy (GARA) turned heads with its hypersonic MD-22 in 2022 and again in late 2024 with its GDF-600 hypersonic boost-glide vehicles concept.
However, despite emphasizing these futuristic technologies, the superpowers haven’t abandoned traditional ICBMs yet. On February 19, the US conducted a live fire test of a Minuteman III missile, following a Russian combat training operation with its Yars missile two weeks earlier.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.