Page 20 - ADT APRIL - MAY 2021 Online Magazine

China, which has made strides in its military strength over the last tems for reactors, propulsion and spacecraft,
decade that are unmatched by any other, has a robust direct-ascent DARPA officials said.
ASAT programme, and has built up dual-use capabilities on orbit
that are necessary for co-orbital ASAT weapons. The country’s In April, Boeing and Northrop Grumman were [ SPACE ]
electronic and cyber counterspace capabilities are also signifi- selected to develop jam-resistant communi-
cant, according to experts. While Iran’s counterspace capabilities cations payloads for the U.S. Space Force’s
have not shown significant progress, North Korea is focusing on Protected Tactical Satcom (PTS) programme.
adapting its electronic warfare techniques and tactics for space. Lockheed Martin was also awarded a con-

According to the U.S., the greatest North Korean counterspace tract to design prototype payloads for the
threat is a cyberattack by its elite cyber warfare unit, the Cyber PTS programme, but only Boeing and Northrop
Warfare Guidance Unit, also known as Bureau 121. Grumman were approved for the next phase of
the programme. The payloads by the two firms
Eyeing a Growing Market will be launched to space in 2024 for an on-or-
As the competition for supremacy in space heats up, major defence bit demonstration. In October last year, the U.S.
contractors as well as startups have stepped in to capture what Space Development Agency awarded SpaceX
looks like an increasingly lucrative market. “Space isn’t a quiet a US$150 million contract to create and deliver
domain of communication and navigation and exploration any- satellites that will form a constellation offering
more,” Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for global coverage of advance missile warning and
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said at a TechCrunch event tracking. The agency also awarded L3Harris
in December last year. “It’s increasingly becoming a hostile place… a US$200 million deal as part of the project.
So, we’re gearing up a new kind of competition on the military side
that could extend to space and that’s creating a lot of new space Making a Move
programs.” Airbus has won multiple UK Ministry of Defence
contracts, covering land, air, sea, space and
In January this year, Lockheed Martin was awarded a US$4.9 bil- cyber domains, for the Skynet 5 military satel-
lion contract to produce three geosynchronous Next-Generation lite communication (SATCOM) system, which is
Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites that will provide to the U.S. a constellation of four next-generation space-
Space Force initial warning of a ballistic or tactical missile launch craft built to meet the needs of the UK Armed
anywhere on the globe. The first of the satellites is likely to be Forces and other government organisations.
launched by 2025. Northrop Grumman will produce the two polar Skynet will provide secure voice, high-speed
orbit satellites that the Space Force is acquiring. The five Next-Gen and data communications to users for com-
OPIR satellites will eventually replace the coverage provided by bined operations on the battlefield, as well as
Lockheed Martin-made Space Based Infrared System satellites. in peacekeeping missions. The company has
The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has also completed the preliminary design review
awarded contracts to General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed (PDR) for the Skynet 6A project, which involves
Martin for the first phase of the agency’s Demonstration Rocket delivering a military communications satellite
for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme, which will test for the UK. The company has also partnered
nuclear propulsion above low Earth orbit by 2025. The teams were with KBR, Leidos UK, Northrop Grumman
selected due to their ability to develop and deploy advanced sys- and QinetiQ to launch the Open Innovation –
Space, to increase the involvement of small
and medium enterprises in UK’s future satellite
communications services and space activities.
In April this year, the European Space
Agency (ESA) selected Thales Alenia Space,
a joint venture between Thales (67%) and
Leonardo (33%), to support the implemen-
tation and experimentation of the navigation
algorithms that will be used in the Galileo
Second Generation program. Under the con-
tract, Thales will develop the Advanced Orbit
Determination and Time Synchronization
(ODTS) Algorithms Test Platform (A-OATP).
The company, which is the prime contractor
for Galileo First Generation’s Ground Mission
Segment, was also selected by global satellite
operator Telesat to be the prime contractor on
the construction of Lightspeed, its advanced
LEO network. The multi-billion-dollar project
initially comprises a fleet of 298 satellites.

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