Posted in Beijing 2023-12-09 13:18
U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) Director Derek Tournear said he is studying how to begin providing alternative positioning, navigation and timing through the upcoming Proliferation Operations Space architecture, which includes cooperation between the agency and the Army, according to Defensescoop on December 7.
"We are working closely with the Army, which has been a pioneer in replacing PNT within the Department of Defense," said SDA Director General Turnnier. ”
Speaking at a webinar hosted by the Space Association, the agency hopes that some of the satellites in the SDA's Phase 2 and Phase 3 transport layers will be able to launch alternative PNT signals developed by the Army to ground users.
"We are working closely with the Army, which has been a pioneer in the replacement PNT for the entire Department of Defense," Tournier said. We're working with them to be able to broadcast the same signal so that it can be picked up by existing, deployed, and planned user equipment. ”
Defense Department agencies are working on alternative PNT technologies, concerned that current GPS satellites and support systems are vulnerable to adversary attacks, jamming, or performance degradation during military operations.
Tunnier noted that specific signals can be received by the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment2 chip. The MGUE chip is supplied by the Space Force and enables the armed forces to use the encrypted M** signal of the GPS constellation.
We want to be able to go deep into existing field user equipment because that's the fastest way to get that capability," he said, "It's much easier and faster for us to build and launch satellites than it is to deploy thousands of user terminals." ”
The Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 transport layers are scheduled to begin in 2026 and will be part of the SDA's Proliferation Operational Space Architecture (PWSA). Once operational, the constellation will consist of hundreds of low-Earth orbit satellites with critical data relay, missile warning, and missile tracking capabilities.
Tournier admits that it will take several years for the Army's alternative PNT signal to materialize. SDA is putting navigation messages into the first operational Link16 payload of the PSWA data transmission satellite, called "Tranche1". The satellites are expected to begin launching in September 2024.
Noting that Link16 was already in use by the military before GPS was launched in the 90s of the 20th century, Tournier said that the military tactical data link was originally planned to be used for navigation and timing purposes.
It still has that capability. You can embed navigation and timing signals into Link16 and you can use it for that purpose," he explains, "It's not as good as GPS, but it does give you an alternative." ”
Going forward, the agency is also considering future plans to replace PNT signals through L-band and S-band signal transmission. Tournier said that doing so would require the development of new user terminals.
He noted that this capability could be integrated into either Phase 3 or Phase 4 transport layer satellites.
NASDA is working with the services to ensure synchronization so that they can deploy appropriate terminals in their equipment before or after deploying space capabilities.