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MDAA Alert:
Star Track, the Next Generation
June 9, 2020

A Kestrel Eye satellite in orbit. (Photo: DVIDS - U.S. Army's Space and Missile
Defense Technical Center)
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Dear Members and Friends,
.
We are building in space an extended array of multitudes of Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
satellites [[link removed]].
This array is a joint project between the Space Development Agency (SDA) and the
Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and will be able to provide global birth to death
tracking of hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles, as well as navigation and
timing systems for beyond-line-of-sight targeting for both offensive and defensive
capabilities. These LEO satellites will communicate with every system across the
joint force in the future Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) "network
of networks" concept aimed at connecting sensors and shooters to every command
and control node, allowing shooters and sensors to share data amongst each other
to enable the best effector for intercept. This means a joint, cross-domain and
eventually allied weapon systems on the ground, at sea, or in the air could be
tasked with intercepting the threat, but more importantly this provides the decision
makers the edge with vast collected sensor data to vast effectors to enable much
more efficient defense and a next generation deterrence. Having this capability
is a top priority for U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) for deterrence and defense,
as well as every U.S. combatant commander around the world.
In this array, there will be three different types of satellites: wide-field view,
medium-field of view, and the transport layer. The purpose of the space sensor layer
satellites is to work together to detect, track, and pass sensor data to a weapon
system on the ground, sea, and air to neutralize these missile threats and allow
accurate counter-fire to those threats where originally launched. The array is
also designed to be able to track newly-developing hypersonic missiles for long
periods of time and also has the potential to detect and track the growing complexity
of hypersonic cruise missiles.

* Wide-field-of-view (WFoV) satellites are part of the SDA's initiative to have
a constellation of hundreds of satellites in LEO. WFoV satellites will orbit the
highest of the three types of satellites to provide the widest and longest views
of hypersonic and ballistic missiles in flight. Eight WFoV satellites are planned
to be in orbit in the Space Sensor Layer by fiscal year (FY) 2022. These eight satellites
will be able to connect into the transport layer satellites. They operate with infrared
sensors and are capable of initial hypersonic weapon tracking through its flight
enabling time for targeting.
* Medium-field-view (MFoV) satellites are the satellites used for the Hypersonic
and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program. HBTSS will provide discrimination
sensors for hypersonic and ballistic missiles to detect, isolate, and target the
warhead from the space debris and decoys as the threat missile travels across space
and within the Earth's high atmosphere. These medium view satellites once cued,
will maintain custody of the threat until it is neutralized. The MFoV satellites
are planned to be integrated into the Space Sensor Layer in FY 2023. If resourced
in the FY 2021 budget, the MFoV would be coupled to be deployed with the WFoV satellites
in 2022.
* The transport layer is an array of satellites that create a mesh network. They
facilitate communication between the wide and medium field of view satellites and
pass the tracking and targeting data to ground stations for dissemination to the
appropriate weapon system. In relation to JADC2, the transport layer will serve
as the main unifying truss. The transport layer satellites are planned to make
up the twenty satellites in tranche zero, with more to be deployed in tranches one
and two. The mesh-like network is similar to that of SpaceX's Starlink satellite
program, with several satellites operating together to communicate and deliver
information.
The kill chain to defeat hypersonic and ballistic missiles comprises all three of
these space layers, with the wide field of view satellites first identifying and
beginning to track a launch. It sends a cue to the medium field of view that takes
custody of tracking and targeting. The medium field of view satellites will pass
the tracking data up to the transport layer and relay that information to a transport
layer satellite close enough to a ground/sea/air platforms that can begin engaging
the target. With a limited number of 44 Ground Based Interceptors (GBIs) to defend
the U.S. homeland from a growing North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) threat, this HBTSS system will be linked through the transport layer into
the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC), which will
significantly reduce the shot doctrine and thereby force multiply the current capacity
of 44 GBIs from what it is today. This reduction of shot doctrine for the GBIs plays
a significant risk reducer as the nation awaits the deployment of the Next Generation
interceptor (NGI). The transport layer can also relay targeting data from the WFoV
or MFoV satellites to the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), the Air
Force's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), and the Army's Tactical Intelligence
Targeting Access Node (TITAN) to JADC2, to enable the Navy, Air Force and Army to
track and negate the missile threat and destroy the origin of the launch with joint,
cross-domain long-range precision fires.
The SDA with MDA are taking a "spiraling up" approach over six years, beginning
with Tranche Zero that will send eight wide-field-of-view satellites up at the end
of FY 2022, establish an Optical Inter-satellite Link (OISL) between the satellites
in LEO, and test tracking data. Next, in Tranche One will be medium-field-of-view
HBTSS satellites in FY 2023. By the end of Tranche One, there will be a mixture
of 70 wide and medium satellites in orbit. "That will give us enough coverage in
LEO so that we can have essentially regional persistence," Dr. Derek Tournear at
MDAA's virtual CRT [[link removed]]
on June 4th. Dr. Tournear marks this as initial operational capacity (IOC). Tranche
Two will include the deployment of 150 satellites, giving the necessary full global
coverage. Tranche Two will come in the fourth quarter of FY 2024 and end in FY 2026.
The transport layer will be sent up and dispersed throughout the other tranches,
with the first ten transport layer satellites going up in Tranche Zero at the end
of 2022.
Preparations for Tranche Zero have already begun. On June 5th, SDA released a call
for bids [[link removed]]
for a tracking phenomenology experiment. The goal of the experiment is to develop
sensor algorithms to integrate into the SDA's space sensor system as well as supplement
two other DARPA Project Blackjack satellites. Building off of current sensor technology
that MDA has developed, deployed on time, on budget, and has had tremendous success
in - the Space Tracking and Surveillance [[link removed]]
(STSS) satellite and the Space-based Kill Assessment [[link removed]]
(SKA) to prove out space tracking and targeting with constellations that used a
combination of commercial and military space lift operations. SDA plans for this
experiment to lead to a sensor that can separate missile signals from background
noise in space. In short, the "tracking phenomenology experiment" is a vital piece
to developing the basic structure needed for the space sensor layer.
There are around 800 LEO satellites in orbit, with the average cost of placing an
object in orbit being $10,000 per pound. On June 3, SpaceX launched 60 new satellites
into orbit on their Falcon 9 rocket at a cost of $2,500 per pound. SpaceX's goal
is to put 10,000 satellites in orbit over the next few years with the goal of eventually
placing up to 60,000 satellites in orbit. The low-cost technology used to deploy
the satellites with the Falcon 9 rocket can be applied to the launching of the
transport layer satellites, the WFoV satellites, and MFoV satellites to break the
cost-curve of the past and bring forward a revolutionary and global effective defense
that breaks the generational stigma with birth to death tracking against all the
missile threats known and to be known.
This will go where no sensor system has gone before.
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Respectfully,
Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
Click Here to Join MDAA [[link removed]]
MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission
is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile
defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats.
We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any
specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the
only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and
mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit
our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org [[link removed]]
for more information.
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Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
515 King Street, Suite 330
Alexandria, VA 22134
Phone: (703) 299-0060
Email: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]

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