Terran Orbital has completed delivery of all 42 satellite buses to Lockheed Martin in support of the U.S. Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL). This milestone marks a critical step in building a proliferated low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation designed to provide secure and resilient military communications and data transport. The delivery underscores Terran Orbital’s growing role in defense space manufacturing and its partnership with Lockheed Martin on next-generation MILSATCOM infrastructure.
Tranche 1 Transport Layer: Backbone of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighting Architecture
The T1TL is part of the SDA’s larger Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which aims to deploy hundreds of small satellites in LEO to enable secure communications, missile warning/tracking, and tactical data relay. The T1TL specifically focuses on creating a resilient mesh network capable of linking sensors and shooters across domains through optical inter-satellite links (OISLs).
In August 2022, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $700 million contract by the SDA to build 42 of the total 126 satellites planned under T1TL. Northrop Grumman received a similar contract for another tranche. These satellites are expected to be launched beginning in late 2024 and will operate in multiple orbital planes to ensure global coverage and redundancy.
The T1TL builds upon lessons from Tranche 0—launched in April and June 2023—which demonstrated initial capabilities for low-latency data transport using optical crosslinks. Unlike traditional geostationary military satellites that are expensive and vulnerable to anti-satellite threats, the PWSA leverages mass-produced smallsats in LEO with rapid refresh cycles.
Terran Orbital’s Role: Bus Manufacturing at Scale
Terran Orbital manufactured all 42 satellite buses at its facility in Irvine, California. The company leveraged its modular platform architecture designed for high-volume production while meeting stringent Department of Defense requirements for radiation tolerance, thermal control, power efficiency, and payload integration flexibility.
The delivered buses support advanced payloads provided by Lockheed Martin—including optical terminals for OISLs—and are built around a scalable avionics core that supports autonomous operations and fault tolerance. Terran Orbital has previously delivered over 340 spacecraft across civil and defense programs but notes that this is its largest single delivery batch under one program.
“Delivering all T1TL buses ahead of schedule demonstrates our ability to scale production while meeting demanding mission specs,” said Marc Bell, CEO of Terran Orbital. “We’re proud to support Lockheed Martin and the SDA as they build out critical national security space infrastructure.”
Lockheed Martin Integration & Mission Payloads
Following bus delivery from Terran Orbital, Lockheed Martin is responsible for integrating mission payloads—including advanced communications systems—and conducting environmental testing before handover to the SDA. Each satellite will feature four optical inter-satellite links enabling high-speed crosslinks within the constellation as well as downlinks to ground stations or tactical users via Ka-band RF terminals.
The payload suite is designed for low-latency data relay between ISR platforms (e.g., overhead sensors or drones) and warfighters on the ground or at sea. This architecture supports Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2) concepts by enabling beyond-line-of-sight connectivity across dispersed forces.
Lockheed has emphasized modularity and open standards—such as compatibility with Link-16 gateways—to ensure future upgrades can be rapidly fielded without redesigning entire spacecraft platforms.
SDA Constellation Strategy: Rapid Refresh & Resilience
The SDA’s approach diverges from legacy space acquisition models by emphasizing spiral development cycles (“tranches”) every two years. Each tranche adds new capabilities while replacing older assets—mirroring commercial tech refresh rates rather than decade-long procurement timelines typical of traditional MILSATCOM programs like AEHF or WGS.
- Tranche 0: Demonstration layer launched in 2023 (28 satellites)
- Tranche 1: Operational layer launching late 2024 (~126 satellites)
- Tranche 2: Planned launch ~2026 with expanded capabilities including missile tracking
This strategy enhances resilience through distribution—making it harder for adversaries to degrade U.S. space capabilities via kinetic or electronic attacks—and allows rapid insertion of new technologies such as AI-based routing algorithms or quantum-resistant encryption protocols.
Implications for Defense Industrial Base & Future Contracts
The successful completion of this major hardware delivery positions Terran Orbital as a key player within the defense-industrial ecosystem supporting proliferated LEO architectures. It also strengthens its relationship with Lockheed Martin—a strategic investor in Terran since early funding rounds—and could lead to follow-on work under future tranches or other DoD constellations such as Tracking Layer or Tactical ISR layers.
The Department of Defense is increasingly relying on commercial suppliers like Terran who can deliver at speed and scale while maintaining compliance with military standards—a shift accelerated by geopolitical threats requiring faster capability deployment cycles.
SDA Director Derek Tournear has repeatedly emphasized that “speed trumps cost” when it comes to fielding operationally relevant space architectures—a mantra reflected in how quickly companies like Terran have ramped up production pipelines compared to legacy primes constrained by traditional workflows.
A Look Ahead: Launch Preparations Underway
Terran’s final bus shipment clears one major hurdle ahead of launch integration activities scheduled throughout early-to-mid-2024. Once fully integrated by Lockheed Martin at their Waterton facility near Denver, Colorado, these spacecraft will undergo final testing before being shipped for launch processing at Vandenberg Space Force Base or Cape Canaveral depending on manifest assignments.
SDA has contracted multiple commercial launch providers—including SpaceX—to deploy T1TL satellites aboard Falcon 9 rockets using rideshare configurations optimized for smallsat constellations. Once operational on orbit, these spacecraft will form an encrypted mesh backbone enabling real-time warfighter connectivity across theaters—from Indo-Pacific maritime zones to European forward bases supporting NATO allies.
