Sierra Space, a commercial space company and defense-tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth and protect economic freedom in the Orbital Age announced today the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the missile warning and tracking satellites the company is developing for the Space Development Agency (SDA) under a prime contract valued at $740 million.

The satellites are part of the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, specifically the Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, a segment of the Defense Department’s Low Earth Orbit constellation.

“In response to the evolving threat environment, we are retooling our commercial capacity to focus on revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base through innovative satellite and spacecraft systems technology,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “Our company is focused on innovation at speed to support an entirely new era in National Security Space at Sierra Space, we care deeply for this planet and are responsible for protecting it.”

SDA awarded Sierra Space the contract through an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) in January 2024 for the design, production, delivery, operations, and sustainment of 16 missile warning and tracking satellites and two satellites for missile defense with fire control fidelity. Additionally, the agreement includes two operational ground segments.

Sierra Space’s solution aims to enhance the capability to provide global, persistent indications, detection, warning, and tracking of conventional and advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems. The company’s solution also offers preliminary missile defense capability by incorporating fire control quality sensors into the constellation. These sensors will generate fire control quality tracks that enable missile defense kill chains, a critical defense capability, for the warfighter.

Since 2023, Sierra Space has secured $1.5 billion in national security and defense contracts for the production of 30 satellites, including the SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer deliverables. In addition, Sierra Space continues to make strides in its spacecraft systems business, boasting more than 20 active contracts for solar arrays and other components. Sierra Space will develop, integrate, and test its space vehicles at its satellite production facilities in Colorado.

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