The plan is to grant two contractors Other Transaction Authority awards to design and build the "Alpha" variant of SDA's Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites, with delivery of the first four in time for a September 2026 launch.
The development and testing processes enabled by the new software environment will be game-changing, because in the end it will allow "satellites to be upgraded in space," SAIC's vice president for space, David Ray, told Breaking Defense.