Misplaced Pages

#866133

77-483: The Space Development Agency (SDA) was established in 2019 by Mike Griffin with his appointment to Under Secretary of Defense (R&E) by President Donald Trump . Griffin, a long time advocate for low Earth orbit constellations to eliminate U.S. vulnerability to ballistic missiles with his work on space-based interceptors for the Strategic Defense Initiative and Brilliant Pebbles in

154-624: A MSE degree in aerospace science from the Catholic University of America in 1974; a PhD degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977; a MS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California in 1979; an MS degree in applied physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1983; an MBA degree from Loyola University Maryland in 1990; and an MS degree in civil engineering from George Washington University in 1998. Griffin

231-547: A USSF-124 mission in February 2024. SDA began as a direct reporting unit (DRU) of DoD's USD(R&E): research and engineering. By design, the functions for acquisition and sustainment (A&S) are the responsibility of another under secretary of defense —the USD(A&;S); this separation of function decouples the technology development of a working prototype system, even the systems as complicated as those taken on by

308-487: A "simple aerospace engineer from a small town", Griffin has held several high-profile political appointments. In 2007 he was included in the TIME 100 , the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people. Griffin's appointment as administrator was associated with a significant shift in the direction of the agency. He began signaling intended changes at his Senate confirmation hearing. Griffin's early career began at APL in

385-407: A Senate subcommittee that the first book he ever received was a book on astronomy and space when he was five years old, and "I was absolutely fascinated by it, and from that time forward, I never considered for myself anything other than being a Scientist or Engineer or Mathematician and involving myself in the space business." Griffin has collaborated with several space advocacy organizations such as

462-787: A budget that reduced space research funding by about 25%, including indefinite deferrals of planned programs such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter , the Terrestrial Planet Finder , and the Space Interferometry Mission . The logic was that funding Project Constellation , a presidentially mandated program, was the top priority of the space agency. Funding for a New York Company to research the Prometheus space nuclear program has also been put on hold, although Griffin has said he

539-621: A combined value of $ 3.5 billion as part of the Commercial Resupply Services program. In February 2018, Griffin was appointed as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering by Donald Trump . One of his first actions was to create the Space Development Agency . The organization was tasked with procuring a proliferated constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to detect Chinese and Russian hypersonic weapons. Commercial contracts for

616-595: A farewell address to NASA on January 16, 2009, in which he praised NASA for its recovery from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and urged employees to support the new administrator, whoever it may be. He left office the day President Obama was inaugurated. On April 14, 2009, Griffin accepted a position as eminent scholar and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville . The university established

693-531: A half years. Griffin approved the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery for July 2006 to perform the second return-to-flight mission, overriding the NASA Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer, Bryan O'Connor . Although O'Connor said there were still unresolved concerns that foam insulation could break off of external fuel tank and damage the orbiter, Griffin characterized the risk as acceptable, arguing that it would be better to test one change at

770-724: A hole" in the constellation immediately before launching an attack. When the Biden administration took ownership of the program in 2021, they appeared to take heed of these concerns but still signed on to a $ 500M increase for the agency in the FY2023 spending bill. The Heritage Foundation , a conservative think tank, dubbed the Space Development Agency "a model for the military". In their 2025 Mandate for Leadership , they call to develop new offensive space capabilities to "impose [American] will if necessary". They further claim

847-458: A mix of fields of view (FOVs). The FOVs in the IR cameras will be either wide FOV (WFOV), or medium FOV (MFOV) for low-resolution, or higher-resolution tracking capability respectively. If such a satellite were to prove performant, and launched early, and no later than April 2027, a vendor could receive an incentive payment. Each vendor is to provide 18 satellites, of which 16 are to carry WFOV cameras;

SECTION 10

#1732772021867

924-424: A professor at various universities, teaching courses in spacecraft design, Applied Math, guidance and navigation, compressible flow, computational fluid dynamics , spacecraft attitude control, aerodynamics, and introductory aerospace engineering. He is lead author of more than two dozen technical papers, and is co-author with James R. French of the astronautical engineering textbook, Space Vehicle Design . Griffin

1001-557: A scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research , said that Griffin was either "totally clueless" or "a deep antiglobal warming ideologue". In a closed-door meeting on June 4, 2007, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , Griffin said: "Unfortunately, this is an issue which has become far more political than technical, and it would have been well for me to have stayed out of it." "All I can really do

1078-705: A separate organization to circumvent its own procurement process. Despite the pushback, the Pentagon did not require congressional authorization to create the SDA, and Wilson was overruled by Patrick M. Shanahan , who became acting defense secretary by appointment of Donald Trump . He placed the new agency under the authority and control of Mike Griffin who was also appointed as Under Secretary of Defense (R&E) . Despite these early successes, SDA still faces critical challenges. The Union of Concerned Scientists warned SDA could escalate tensions with Russia and China and called

1155-613: A third vendor, Rocket Lab LLC, was selected to supply 18 space vehicles, an additional part of the Beta Tranche 2 Tracking Layer (T2TL) tranche, for a total of 90 space vehicles in the Beta T2TL tranche. On 16 January 2024, the SDA announced an award to three vendors worth up to $ 2.5 billion. These vendors will supply "preliminary fire control" satellites in the Tranche 2 Tracking Layer. They will carry infrared (IR) cameras , with

1232-506: A time. With that flight NASA was testing the removal of protuberance air-load ramps from cable and fuel line fittings on the exterior of the external fuel tank. This launch proved that the changes made to prevent shedding of foam at the air-load ramps were successful, allowing the Shuttle program to work towards completion of the ISS by the presidentially mandated year of 2010. The construction of

1309-456: A trip to Russia , where they attempted to purchase ICBMs . The unsuccessful trip is credited as directly leading to the formation of SpaceX . Musk offered Griffin the title of chief engineer at the company, but Griffin instead became president and COO of  In-Q-Tel , a private enterprise funded by the  CIA  to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve national security interests. In 2005, he

1386-555: Is a Space Grant university, and has a history of cooperation with both NASA at the nearby Marshall Space Flight Center , and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal . The campus serves as the anchor tenant in Cummings Research Park , the second-largest university research park in the USA. In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Griffin was ranked as the #7 most popular space hero. On August 14, 2012,

1463-513: Is also a general aviation flight Instructor and Pilot, and owner of a small airplane, a Beech Bonanza. In 2004 Griffin was named head of the Space Department at Johns Hopkins University APL. In or before 2023 Griffin joined the board of Castelion, a defense manufacturing company. Griffin holds seven academic degrees that he earned throughout his career. He earned a BA degree in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1971;

1540-742: Is anxious to pursue Prometheus after the earlier-priority development of the new spacecraft is completed. Earlier, in November 2005, funding for life science research conducted largely out of Ames Research Center was cut by 80%, prompting representatives of the Ames life sciences group to write a scathing letter to Griffin criticizing this cut. NASA field centers focused mainly on science rather than on human spaceflight, such as Ames and Glenn Research Center , have seen general budgetary downsizing, and many science contracts with outside researchers have been canceled. Griffin attributed these cuts, along with cuts in

1617-404: Is apologize to all you guys. ... I feel badly that I caused this amount of controversy over something like this." It was widely known that Griffin hoped to keep his job under President Barack Obama so that Constellation and NASA's other programs could maintain their steady progress. In a phone call on the day after the election, Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL) requested of Lori Garver , who led

SECTION 20

#1732772021867

1694-487: Is charged with the development and oversight of technology strategy for the DoD. The post (or effectively the same post) has at various times had the titles Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering ( ASD(R&E) ), or Director of Defense Research and Engineering ( DDR&E ). The latter title has itself historically varied between the rank of under secretary and that of assistant secretary. USD (R&E)

1771-483: Is the human settlement of the Solar System, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible." In his testimony he also advocated heavy-lift launch capabilities, development of space qualified nuclear power systems, in situ resource utilization, and cost-effective medium-size transport to low Earth orbit . Griffin told

1848-518: Is the principal staff advisor for research and engineering matters to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense. In this capacity, USD (R&E) serves as the chief technology officer (CTO) for the Department of Defense charged with the development and oversight of DoD technology strategy in concert with the department's current and future requirements. The goal of USD (R&E) is to extend

1925-444: Is to assume that the state of Earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn't change. First of all, I don't think it's within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown, and second of all, I guess I would ask which human beings -where and when-are to be accorded

2002-481: Is to be interconnected by free-space optical laser terminals in a secure command and control optical mesh network . Satellites are to be low cost and "proliferated" in low Earth orbit. New commercial technology such as reusable launch systems have reduced deployment costs and new mass-produced commercial satellites offer less "juicy" targets for anti-satellite weapons by being inexpensive and potentially hard to distinguish from other commercial satellites. Development

2079-442: Is to follow the spiral model , incorporating learning from previous iterations and launching new satellite replacements regularly as the useful lifetime of each is relatively short. The SDA expects to field and maintain a constellation of at least 1,000 satellites on orbit by 2026. The SDA has mostly avoided flaws that plagued earlier proliferated missile defense programs such as Brilliant Pebbles . The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

2156-565: The International Space Station ; the mandated development of the Vision for Space Exploration architecture; programs outside of human spaceflight, consisting of science research and aeronautics research; and an ever-increasing share of NASA's budget devoted to line-item earmarks sometimes characterized as pork barrel spending. Vision for Space Exploration , announced by President Bush in 2004, mandated that NASA must use

2233-599: The National Space Society , Mars Society , and the Planetary Society : On March 11, 2005, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Griffin to serve as the 11th Administrator of NASA. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 13, 2005. Griffin was subsequently sworn in by Vice-president Dick Cheney , a rarity for a NASA administrator and signifying the importance NASA held to

2310-543: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from 2018 to 2020. He previously served as deputy of technology for the Strategic Defense Initiative , and as administrator of NASA from April 13, 2005, to January 20, 2009. As NASA administrator, Griffin oversaw such areas as private spaceflight , future human spaceflight to Mars , and the fate of the Hubble telescope . While he describes himself as

2387-562: The 100 Most Influential People of 2008. Griffin received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's National Space Trophy in May 2009. On March 13, 2008, Griffin was awarded the title of 74th Honorary Chancellor at Florida Southern College during its annual Founder's Day Ceremony. On May 22, 2011, Griffin was awarded honorary DE degree from the University of Notre Dame . On July 11, 2018, asteroid 159999 Michaelgriffin

Space Development Agency - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-551: The 1980s, where he helped design the successful Delta 180 series of missile defense technology satellites for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) . Griffin soon rose to deputy for technology, where he conceived and directed the first space-to-space interception of a ballistic missile in powered flight, and the first space-borne reconnaissance of ballistic missile targets in boost phase and mid-course flight. In 1991, Griffin

2541-484: The 1980s. These programs, however, were discontinued in the 1990s due to high cost and political disagreement. Later, the United States and other countries developed hypersonic weapons , which Griffin argued were thermally dimmer and could only be reliably tracked by low-flying satellites with infrared sensors, creating a need to resurrect such programs. In addition to hypersonic weapons, the memorandum establishing

2618-591: The 8 satellites at no cost to the government; the initial launch was delayed to March 2023, including the 8 retrofitted by York Space Systems. On 2 April 2023 the first 10 satellites of Tranche 0 were launched into low earth orbit, as planned. These satellites will demonstrate the responsive (low latency) communication links of the Transport layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). An initial checkout of

2695-884: The Apollo program was squandered by a change in focus to Shuttle and space station programs that only reached orbit: "I spent some time analysing what we could have done had we used the budgets we received to explore the capabilities inherent in the Apollo hardware after it was built. The short answer is we would have been on Mars 15 or 20 years ago, instead of circling endlessly in low Earth orbit." Griffin has been criticized by space research organizations such as NASA Ames Research Center life sciences group for shifting portions of NASA's budget from science to human spaceflight. Griffin had stated that he would not shift "one thin dime" of funding from science to human spaceflight, but less than six months later, in February 2006, after NASA Constellation funding did not reach requested levels, NASA revealed

2772-566: The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)). Under the DoD Reorganization Act of 1958 (PL 85-599, effective 6 August 1958), the position of ASD (R&E) was abolished and replaced by a Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). From 19 May 1961, until 15 July 1965, a Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering held the additional title of ASD(R&E), on

2849-1083: The Biden administration "has eliminated almost all offensive deterrence capabilities" in space that were planned under the Trump administration. In 2020, 13th Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Will Roper expressed interest in the SpaceX Starlink satellite internet constellation as a platform for the SDA. SDA awarded its first contracts in August 2020. Lockheed Martin received $ 188 million and York Space Systems received $ 94 million to each build 10 data relay satellites for its transport layer. In October 2020, SDA chose SpaceX and L3Harris Technologies to develop four satellites each to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The initial tranche of satellites were originally scheduled to launch September 2022. However,

2926-588: The Bush Administration. Administration even recalled its former NASA transition Team Director and Chief of Staff, Courtney Stadd , to assist Griffin. On September 28, 2007, Griffin said that NASA aims to put a man on Mars by 2037. In an interview with The Guardian in July 2008 Griffin stated, in criticism of the Space Shuttle program , that an opportunity to push on to Mars by extending

3003-529: The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). The Military Retirement Reform Act of 1986 expanded the scope of USD (R&E) position to encompass acquisition and logistics, as well as technology, and it was renamed USD(AT&L). A subordinate position at the assistant secretary level was reestablished with the previous title DDR&E. However, budget control of the technology portfolio was kept by USD(AT&L), diminishing

3080-471: The Department of Defense, including the establishment of two statutory boards: a Munitions Board, and a Research and Development Board. In June 1953, President Eisenhower's Reorganization Plan No. 6 abolished the boards as such, and created six new Assistant Secretaries of Defense. Two of these assistant secretary positions—Applications Engineering, and Research and Development—were combined in March 1957 to become

3157-407: The ISS was completed in early 2011, and then the Space Shuttle was retired. In a follow-up interview to his May 31 interview with NPR 's Steve Inskeep airing June 1, 2007, on NPR News' Morning Edition , Griffin said: I have no doubt that global—that a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with. To assume that it is a problem

Space Development Agency - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-685: The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E) and the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S), as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 . The latest restructuring establishes three new Assistant Secretary of Defense positions, along with eight Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense, replacing

3311-424: The Pentagon regarding the use of MTAs and other rapid prototype programs. Industry participants such as MITRE Acquisition Chief Pete Modigliani have said the new requirements would "drastically impede DoD’s rapid acquisition abilities" for SDA and other programs. Michael D. Griffin#Career Michael Douglas Griffin (born November 1, 1949) is an American physicist and aerospace engineer who served as

3388-777: The SDA also calls for a new space architecture "not bound by legacy methods or culture" that provides unifying command and control through a cross-domain artificial intelligence -enabled network. The Space Development Agency proposed the National Defense Space Architecture , later renamed the Proliferated Warfighting Space Architecture . It advances a network of global orbiters composed of layers with different military capabilities such as communications, surveillance, global navigation, battle management, deterrence, and missile defense. The satellite constellation

3465-714: The SDA, from overcomplication induced by the processes of the DoD. The SDA has relied heavily on "Section 804" Mid-Tier Acquisitions (MTAs) to avoid traditional defense procurement requirements. SDA has been able to forgo a number of reporting activities by breaking up larger programs into numerous two-year rapid fielding projects that each qualify as MTAs. Members of Congress and the Government Accountability Office have said this obfuscates costs and limits transparency. The FY23 omnibus appropriations act, signed by President Joe Biden on 29 December 2022, levies new reporting and certification requirements on

3542-580: The Schafer Corporation announced that Griffin would assume the role of chairman and CEO at the company. The Schafer Corporation is a technology company providing products and professional services to Government and Industry customers. It was founded in 1972. On December 4, 2017, Reuters reported that Griffin was nominated by President Donald Trump to be Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)). The U.S. Senate confirmed him by voice vote on February 15, 2018. As

3619-595: The Space Shuttle to finish construction of the International Space Station by the end of 2010. By June 2006, due to ongoing concerns with the safety of the Shuttle in the wake of the Columbia disaster, only one flight had been performed. Per the Presidential mandate of the Vision for Space Exploration, Griffin mandated that 18 more Space Shuttle flights be performed in the remaining four and

3696-664: The Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System. In 2022 contracts were awarded to York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin Space, and Northrop Grumman Space Systems. Tranche 2 satellites were solicited for bid in 2023, for launch in 2026. This consists of more than 550 satellites: 250 in the Transport Layer; 50 in the Tracking Layer; Transport Layer will have 100 Alpha satellites, 72 Beta satellites, and 44 Gamma satellites; The Beta satellites Request for Proposal (RFP)

3773-624: The USD(R&;E), Griffin established technology modernization priorities for the DoD. On June 23, 2020, Griffin announced that he was leaving his position as USD(R&E) to pursue a private sector opportunity. His deputy, Lisa Porter , announced her departure on the same date. In August 2020, Griffin joined the board of directors at Rocket Lab , a recent SPAC . As of December 12, 2022, Griffin has sold all company shares granted to him. The stock had lost more than 60% of its value since it became publicly traded in November 2020. Mike Griffin left

3850-638: The board in September 2024. Griffin is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Defense Department's highest award which can be conferred on a Non-Government employee, Distinguished Public Service Medal (1986); AIAA Space Systems Medal (1988), Significant Technical Accomplishment Award (Delta 183 Mission Team) from American Defense Preparedness Association (1989); NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (1994); Goddard Astronautics Award (2007); and selection by Time Magazine as one of

3927-470: The capabilities of current war fighting systems, develop breakthrough capabilities, hedge against an uncertain future through a set of scientific and engineering options, and counter strategic surprise. USD (R&E) also provides advice and assistance in developing policies for rapid technology transition. From 1987 until 1 February 2018, ASD(R&E) was subordinate to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. On 1 February 2018,

SECTION 50

#1732772021867

4004-607: The constellation were given to L3Harris and SpaceX to build Starlink military satellites . CIA Director Mike Pompeo called the project a “Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II". Griffin has encouraged the development of boost-glide hypersonic weapons such as the AGM-183 ARRW . In 2020, he signaled that the United States would be making a major investment in production of hypersonic weaponry at scale. Before his appointment as NASA administrator, Griffin

4081-473: The eminent scholar position in 1986. Griffin has established the Center for System Studies at the university, which will address the need for " systems thinking " in industry and the government. System studies involve research to understand the many complex ways that technology, nature, people, and society interact so that the workings of an engineered solution are more predictable and more desirable. UA Huntsville

4158-498: The energy needed for this is very low. Likewise, RF jamming is simpler when communication and radar satellites are in lower altitudes as less power is needed to saturate their low-noise amplifiers . It is also far easier to launch an anti-satellite weapon to destroy satellites in low Earth orbit (as demonstrated with small ASM-135 or RIM-161 missiles) given much less energy is required to kinetically intersect than to enter and maintain orbit. An adversary would simply need to "punch

4235-413: The human spaceflight budget, as being necessitated by a $ 3.2 billion shortfall. The National Research Council also concluded that NASA's total funding has not been enough to fulfill all its mandates and remain strong in science. However, during Griffin's term, science budgets were, as a percentage of NASA's total budget, in line with those during Project Apollo. There has been some discussion, after

4312-570: The importance of the DDR&;E position subsequently. On 7 January 2011, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act with several redesignated titles within the Department of Defense. These changes included renaming the DDR&E as, once again, ASD(R&E). On 1 February 2018, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics was split into two new offices:

4389-475: The incoming Obama Administration's Transition Team, that the Administration allow Griffin to remain as NASA administrator to provide programmatic and management continuity. However, his resignation (required of and offered by all agency heads due to an incoming president) was accepted. In part, this was because of disagreements between Griffin and Garver over the state of Project Constellation. Griffin gave

4466-407: The initial launch slipped due to supply-chain issues for microelectronics such as radios, software problems, and protests by Raytheon and Airbus over procurement and evaluation process. SDA industry partners now include SpaceX , L3Harris Technologies , Northrop Grumman , Ball Aerospace and General Dynamics . A number of experimental satellites were launched in 2021. SDA plans to test some of

4543-605: The key technologies in a series of on-orbit experiments that went up on Transporter-2 : Mandrake 2, the Laser Interconnect and Networking Communications System (LINCS), and the Prototype On-orbit Experimental Testbed (POET). SDA's current schedule expects Tranche 0 capability will be on orbit in time to support a summer 2023 demonstration. Link 16 connectivity between Five Eyes nations, via Low Earth Orbit Tranche 0 satellites

4620-687: The organization was being formed. The organizational structure was finalized in July 2018. Agencies marked with an asterisk (*) are not part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense . Upon the February 2018 reorganization, the USD (R&E) assumed responsibility for administering the Small Business Innovation Research and Rapid Innovation Fund programs. The National Security Act of 1947 and its 1949 amendments established

4697-598: The potential for lower satellite build costs. Political and administrative opposition to SDA came from 24th Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson who argued that "launching hundreds of cheap satellites into theater as a substitute for the complex architectures where we provide key capabilities to the warfighter will result in failure on America's worst day if relied upon alone." Members of Congress also gave concerns that SDA would drain resources and jobs from Air Force and questioned why DoD had to create

SECTION 60

#1732772021867

4774-472: The privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take. Some climate scientists referred to his remarks as ignorant. In particular, James E. Hansen , NASA's top official on climate change, said Griffin's comments showed "arrogance and ignorance", as millions will likely be harmed by global warming. Jerry Mahlman ,

4851-618: The project "fundamentally destabilizing". Both China and Russia brought concerns to the United Nations about the U.S. plans for militarization of space. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has advocated for better use of arms control and international agreements such as a treaty halting related development by all parties to prevent an arms race in space. Critics have reiterated longstanding concerns that ground-based lasers can easily "paint" satellites in low Earth orbit, temporarily blinding their sensors. The APS reporting

4928-666: The release of the Summary Report by the Human Space Flight Committee that NASA has not been funded sufficiently to pursue a strong science program while continuing to focus on aeronautics and space exploration, the two key mission of the NASA. Limitations on NASA's budget include a mandated continuation of the Space Shuttle program, including safety upgrades and testing; the mandated construction of

5005-474: The remaining two are to be MFOV cameras. The Proliferated Warfighting Space Architecture (PWSA) will rely on these preliminary fire control satellites to perform the JADC2 concept. Tranche 2 Tracking capability will start after the 2026 launches. SDA satellites are the first to have direct-to-weapon control, as noted by SDA's technical director, Frank Turner. This capability allows for a seamless connection between

5082-445: The research and engineering were split into an independent office, with the head position being elevated from an assistant secretary to an under secretary level. The remaining acquisition office became the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S). Organizations included under the USD (R&E) include the following. As of February 2018, organizational relationships remained to be finalized as

5159-428: The satellite bus and mission payloads is the current priority. The second Tranche 0 launch, carrying 13 more satellites, took place on 2 September 2023. Of the 18 initially scheduled payloads one Transport satellite built by York has been excluded to conduct software tests, while the four Tracking satellites built by L3Harris had been kept on the ground by production delays and were launched later as rideshare payloads of

5236-426: The satellite data and weapon systems. The Beta satellites will attempt “extremely difficult” contacts with aircraft and missiles in flight, Turner said. Among the SDA projects: SDA's initial launch of 10 satellites (denoted Tranche 0) had been scheduled for December 2022; however tests of 8 of these satellites indicated that each had a noisy power supply . The contractor, York Space Systems retrofitted filters on

5313-403: The theory that this position reported to, in rank, an under secretary—the DDR&E. On 21 October 1977, PL 95-140 made the rank of the DDR&E unambiguous by renaming it to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD (R&E)). The history of Department of Defense management of science and technology up to the 1980s is described at greater length in a report available from

5390-527: Was a major impediment in the past, as these systems were deemed non-compliant with the treaty by Congress. However, George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the treaty in 2002, eliminating this barrier. Over the years, launch and manufacturing costs have been greatly reduced. Decades after the SDIO ’s DC-X failed there are now commercial reusable launch vehicles such as SpaceX 's Falcon 9 rocket. Meanwhile mass manufacturing as with Starlink has proven

5467-415: Was also working toward an MS degree in computer science at Johns Hopkins University before being appointed as NASA chief. In April 2009, Griffin was named eminent scholar and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville . In 2004 testimony to Congress on the future of human spaceflight, he stated, "For me, the single overarching goal of human space flight

5544-698: Was appointed NASA administrator, where he pushed for commercial cargo and crew transportation services. After NASA lost a GAO protest from SpaceX on a sole-source contract to RocketPlane Kistler, Griffin led a reorganization of the contract into a competition called the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Twenty aerospace companies applied to the COTS program, of which two companies, RocketPlane Kistler and SpaceX were selected by NASA. In December 2008, NASA awarded SpaceX and Orbital Sciences contracts with

5621-555: Was demonstrated from 21 November to 27 November 2023. Global coverage of missile launches will take 40 downward-looking satellites. By year-end 2025 there will be 126 Link-16 satellites in orbit for intercommunication, using Tranche 1 Tracking capabilities. Tranche 2 Tracking capability will start in 2026. Tranche 1 satellites were solicited for bid in 2021, expecting first launch in September 2024, and monthly launches thereafter. Tranche 1 totals more than 150 satellites: 126 in Tranche 1 Transport Layer; 35 in Tranche 1 Tracking Layer; 12 in

5698-616: Was named after him. The main-belt asteroid was discovered by astronomer Marc Buie at the Kitt Peak National Observatory , Arizona, in 2006. On January 1, 2020, Michael Griffin was named an IEEE fellow. Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering , abbreviated USD (R&E) , is a senior official of the United States Department of Defense . The USD (R&E)

5775-647: Was president-elect of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is a member of American Astronautical Society and International Academy of Astronautics . Griffin had worked at NASA prior to serving as NASA administrator, including as associate administrator for exploration. When he was nominated as NASA chief, he was head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland . Griffin has been

5852-688: Was released in the 2nd week of April. The Alpha RFP was released in June 2023 and Gamma is scheduled for early 2024. The Alpha satellites are similar to those in the Tranche 1 Transport Layer; the Beta satellites will have UHF and tactical communications payloads; the Gamma satellites will carry advanced waveform payloads. York Space Systems will build 62 satellites for the Tranche 2 Transport Layer. In 2023 contracts for 72 satellites were awarded to Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin (for 36 Beta satellites apiece). In 2024

5929-552: Was the president and CTO of Orbital Sciences , then a small entrepreneurial space launch company In 1995, Griffin authored a report published by The Heritage Foundation , "Ending America's Vulnerability to Ballistic Missiles", offering recommendations for advancing the recently cancelled Brilliant Pebbles program. There he advocated for a new proliferated low Earth orbit constellation of sensors and space-based interceptor weapons to defend against ballistic missiles. In early 2002 he met entrepreneur Elon Musk and accompanied him on

#866133