National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), Systems, Technologies, and Emerging Capabilities (STEC)

SDA is responsible for defining and monitoring the Department’s future threat-driven space architecture and accelerating the development and fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantage in space for national defense. To achieve this mission, SDA is responsible for unifying and integrating next-generation space capabilities to deliver the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), a resilient military sensing and data transport capability via a proliferated space architecture in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). SDA will not necessarily develop and field all capabilities of the NDSA but rather orchestrate those efforts across DoD and fill in gaps in capabilities while providing the integrated architecture.

Initially the NDSA is comprised of the following layers, addressing the critical priorities for space identified within the DoD Space Vision:

• Transport Layer, to provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and communications connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms;
• Battle Management Layer, to provide architecture tasking, mission command and control, and data dissemination to support time-sensitive kill chain closure at campaign scales; and
• Tracking Layer, to provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems;
• Custody Layer, to provide 24x7, all-weather custody of time-sensitive, left-of-launch surface mobile targets (e.g., to support targeting for advanced missiles);
• Navigation Layer, to provide alternate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) for Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments;
• Deterrence Layer, to deter hostile action in deep space (beyond Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) up to lunar distances);
• Support Layer, to enable ground and launch segments to support a responsive space architecture.

SDA’s mission begins and ends with the warfighter. SDA recognizes that “good enough” capabilities in the hands of warfighter sooner may be better than delivering the perfect solution too late. SDA will deliver capabilities to our joint warfighting forces in two-year tranches, beginning as early as Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. SDA anticipates issuing separate solicitations for the capability layers outlined above, seeking systems and technologies that can be developed and fielded on the SDA tranche timelines to address timely warfighter needs. SDA also recognizes the need to establish an “intellectual pipeline” to access ideas from across the community to inform the future of the NDSA.

Through this BAA, SDA specifically seeks novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities that:

• Enable leap-ahead improvements for future tranches of currently planned NDSA capability layers

• Enable new capability layers to address other emerging or evolving warfighters needs

To this end, SDA is soliciting executive summaries, white papers/proposal abstracts, and full proposals.  Please see the attached BAA for details, focus areas, and submission instructions.