Sandhoo identified several problems with the first Tranche 1 satellites during a roundtable with journalists ahead of this week’s launch. Ground controllers lacked sufficient coverage at ground stations to communicate with satellites after last year’s launches. Some of the satellites encountered thermal control and propulsion system issues while ascending from their insertion orbit to an operating altitude of more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers), significantly higher than SpaceX’s Starlink Internet network, Sandhoo said.
“We’re in a pretty harsh radiation environment at 1,000 kilometers, so not all of our orbit raising has gone as planned,” he said. “It’s been sporadic. We’re working on it.” Sandhoo is optimistic that ground teams will eventually declare most satellites ready to operate, but it is taking longer than expected.
The Space Development Agency’s “Tranche 1” architecture includes 154 operational satellites, 126 for data relay and 28 for missile tracking. With this illustration, the ASD goes out of its way to show how it is supposed to work.
Credit: Space Development Agency
The Space Development Agency’s “Tranche 1” architecture includes 154 operational satellites, 126 for data relay and 28 for missile tracking. With this illustration, the ASD goes out of its way to show how it is supposed to work.
Credit: Space Development Agency
Do it right
SDA and its contractors “hit pause” after last year’s launches to “make sure we fix at least the known issues,” Sandhoo said. “We expect this launch to be much smoother than the previous one.”
Thursday’s launch was the second SDA launch of York’s data transport satellites and the third for Tranche 1 overall. Seven more launches will complete Tranche with 63 additional data transport satellites and 28 missile tracking satellites manufactured by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris. None of the Tranche 1 tracking satellites have been launched yet.
Sandhoo said the schedule for the next series of SDA satellites is “still limited” by the availability of optical communication terminals, the laser transmitters and receivers needed to connect the transport and tracking satellites into an integrated mesh network.
While SDA officials declined to say when the next launches might occur, the agency said Tranche 1 satellites “will provide initial warfighting capability starting in 2027. Sandhoo said the agency is no longer focused on achieving a monthly launch cadence. It is more important, he said, to ensure that SDA satellites are launched when they are ready. “The goal is to become operational as quickly as possible once they are in orbit,” he said.
