WASHINGTON — Small satellite manufacturers Hera Systems and LeoStella are teaming as much as compete for a big military contract to be awarded this fall by the U.S. Space Development Agency.
The businesses announced Aug. 28 they’re partnering with an undisclosed prime contractor in a bid for the Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 2 Transport Layer Alpha, a procurement of 100 satellites to be split between two teams.
SDA is constructing a big constellation called the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture that features a Transport Layer of interconnected communications satellites and a Tracking Layer of missile-detection and warning sensor satellites.
Hera Systems, headquartered in San Jose; and LeoStella, based in Tukwila, Washington, plan to jointly manufacture satellite buses for SDA and for other government and industrial customers.
‘Leoness’ satellite bus
Within the bid submitted to SDA in late July, Hera Systems and LeoStella are offering the Leoness satellite bus designed by Hera Systems, said Roger Roberts, CEO of Hera Systems. The Leoness bus was chosen for the U.S. Space Force’s Tetra 5 in-orbit refueling experiment planned for 2025.
LeoStella, co-owned by Thales Alenia Space and the geospatial intelligence firm BlackSky, has excess capability at its factory and has been searching for opportunities within the defense market.
“This collaboration allows us to jointly mitigate capability and provide chain risks that other manufacturers face independently,” said Roberts.
Tim Kienberger, CEO of LeoStella, said SDA needs a diversity of suppliers to fulfill an ambitious schedule to launch a whole lot of satellites over the subsequent several years. The agency is “really after price and schedule,” said Kienberger. “SDA desires to capture the pricing and efficiencies of the industrial marketplace.”
Roberts said the partnership with LeoStella seeks to “address what we all know are real challenges, supply chain challenges and schedule challenges” across the industry.
Kienberger said the agreement with Hera Systems will allow LeoStella to proceed to supply satellites for industrial customers and still meet SDA’s schedule in the event that they win a contract from the agency.