York Space to Deliver 62 Alpha Satellites Under $615M SDA Contract

The director of the Space Development Agency said York Space Systems has been awarded a $615 million-plus contract for 62 Tranche 2 Transport Layer data relay satellites.

The T2TL will comprise 216 satellites comprising three variants, namely the Alpha, Beta and Gamma satellites. The Alpha satellites will carry optical inter-satellite crosslinks, a Ka-band communications downlink, on-board battle management processing solutions and a Link 16 data link.

Speaking at the Milsat Symposium, 2021 Wash100 awardee Derek Tournear said York will deliver 62 Alpha satellites under the contract. The contract is expected to be finalized on Tuesday, he added.

The agency is also finalizing a contract for the 38 remaining Alpha satellites, which is expected to be closed on the week of Oct. 30, Breaking Defense reported.

The York Space deal comes months after SDA awarded Northrop Grumman a $733 million contract and Lockheed Martin an $816 million contract to develop 36 T2TL Beta satellites each. According to SDA technical director Frank Turner, the Beta satellites will carry payloads that would enable the Integrated Broadcast Service, which helps transmit intelligence and targeting data through geosynchronous orbit.