ORLANDO, Fla. — The Space Force’s rapid acquisition arm is on track to start fielding new antennas to augment its aging Satellite Control Network by the end of next year.
Kelly Hammett, who leads the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, told reporters Wednesday the service is concerned that its current antenna network wouldn’t pass muster during a conflict. The system, which is dispersed around the world, provides critical launch support, satellite tracking and control, and emergency assistance for spacecraft.
Those concerns are driving an urgency to field the first new antenna through the Space RCO’s Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource program as fast as possible and secure funding more systems in the fiscal 2025 budget.
“If we get into a conflict in space, we will need additional augmentation to command and control our assets,” Hammett said during a briefing at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower Conference here. “There’s been a pretty big push to fund more than just article one.”
The first units will be deployed in Indo-Pacific Command.
Hammett noted that the purchase of additional antennas is at the top of the Space Force’s fiscal 2025 unfunded priority list — a compilation of projects that didn’t make it into the service’s budget request.
The Defense Department and other federal agencies rely on the Satellite Control Network for operations support, and demand for the capability has grown significantly in recent years. For the last decade, utilization rates have surpassed the industry standard, according to a 2023 Government Accountability Office report.
That strain on the system has limited its availability, with government auditors warning it could compromise missions in the future.
The goal of the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program is to replace the aging network with new phased-array antennas built by Blue Halo. The systems, dubbed Badger, provide multi-beam, multi-orbit mission operations and are designed to make it easier to track and manage satellites. They can also be easily transported around the world.
Space RCO awarded the company $1.4 billion in 2022 to deliver 12 units by the early 2030s. In September, Blue Halo announced it would expand its supply chain and manufacturing investments to support SCAR, with a goal of reducing both risk and cost. That increased production capacity is enabled through a new integrated testing capability that lets the program complete large-scale testing on faster timelines.
Hammett said the team has used this new automated testing process to rapidly qualify the antennas and is working to finalize the design of the first unit.
Once operational, SCAR will increase satellite communications capacity by ten-fold for spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, the Space Force estimates.
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
