The agreement, structured as an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with an initial delivery order, will see the company carry out design work for the Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global (PTS-G) program. The system is intended to deliver assured-access communications for tactical forces worldwide.
The PTS-G satellite constellation will augment the United States Space Force’s (USSF) existing space and ground-based military communications architecture. Northrop Grumman will complete the initial design work under the first order, with later phases expected to include production of the initial satellite cluster. All spacecraft will be designed and built at the company’s facility in Dulles, Virginia.
The company is also working in parallel with the Space Systems Command on the Protected Tactical SATCOM Rapid Prototype (PTS-P), currently undergoing integration and testing in Gilbert, Arizona. The PTS-P payload will be mated to an ESPAStar-HP bus alongside a new digital processing subsystem.
Brandon White, vice-president and general manager of tactical space systems at Northrop Grumman, said the program reflected a shift towards more rapid delivery of resilient space capabilities.
“To maintain US space superiority, we are combining digital engineering solutions with more than three decades of experience in commercial communications to help accelerate delivery of critical resilient wideband satellite communications to warfighters,” White said.
The PTS-G initiative forms part of the USSF’s Protected Tactical SATCOM family of systems, designed to deliver secure wideband communications at lower cost through commercially driven approaches. Northrop Grumman’s design will be based on its GEOStar-3 satellite platform, offering secure X-band and military Ka-band communications.
Northrop Grumman is one of the world’s largest aerospace and defence technology companies, providing military, civil and commercial customers with advanced space, air, land and maritime systems.