York Space Systems and SpaceX have successfully demonstrated the ability for two satellites built by different vendors to link together using a standardized optical communications terminals protocol required by the Defense Department, York announced Thursday.
The two satellites were stationed in low-Earth orbit as part of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 — a batch of experimental systems launched in 2023 that serve to test and validate SDA’s future mega-constellation known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The on-orbit demonstration involved a data transport satellite built by York and a SpaceX missile tracking platform on two separate network layers and orbital inclinations that were able to successfully close a laser comms link, according York.
“Achieving the first inter-vendor, inter-layer laser link demonstrates the tangible value of open standards and collaborative efforts in rapidly achieving an integrated space architecture,” York CEO Dirk Wallinger said in a statement. “We are proud to support SDA’s vision for an interconnected space architecture for the warfighters.”
SDA envisions the PWSA as a constellation comprising hundreds of satellites built by multiple vendors that carry critical communications, data relay, missile warning and tracking capabilities for the Defense Department.
To ensure platforms built by different vendors can pass data with each other, each of the PWSA birds carry optical inter-satellite links that meet a standardized protocol published by and required the agency.
“Laser communication links, which enable high-speed, secure data transmission, are an enabling capability for next-generation satellite networks,” York stated in a press release. “By successfully demonstrating the first LEO-to-LEO laser communication link between satellites from different vendors, York and SDA have taken a significant step toward realizing the vision of a unified, multi-vendor satellite communications network.”
The demonstration marks another critical milestone for SDA as it prepares to launch the first operational batch of PWSA satellites, known as Tranche 1, in the coming months.
SDA Director Derek Tournear has said in the past that space-based laser communications will be a significant technical hurdle to overcome as the agency validates the PWSA concept. In September 2024, Tournear said that two Tranche 0 missile warning and missile tracking satellites built by SpaceX established laser link comms — paving the way for inter-vendor networking demonstrations.
At the same time, SDA is also planning to have the PWSA connect with other military constellations and, eventually, commercial satellites. The agency wants to use “translator satellites” that can connect its Tracking Layer space vehicles to the Space Force’s future missile warning and tracking constellation stationed in medium-Earth orbit. Additionally, SDA wants to use “hybrid” communications terminals built by commercial vendors that can connect their constellations to the PWSA.
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