{"id":2238,"date":"2025-12-26T09:02:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T09:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-secures-major-sda-prime-contract-for-18-tranche-3-tracking-layer-satellites\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T09:02:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T09:02:03","slug":"rocket-lab-secures-major-sda-prime-contract-for-18-tranche-3-tracking-layer-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-secures-major-sda-prime-contract-for-18-tranche-3-tracking-layer-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab Secures Major SDA Prime Contract for 18 Tranche 3 Tracking Layer Satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/cover26121_639021619918674672.png\" width=\"712\" height=\"378\" alt=\"Rocket Lab Secures Major SDA Prime Contract for 18 Tranche 3 Tracking Layer Satellites\" class=\"imageload removeImageattr\" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/cover26121_639021619918674672.png\" style=\"opacity: 1.54212e-05;\"><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/cover26121_639021619918674672.png\"><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"712\"><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"378\"><\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab, a leading launch and space systems company, announced it has been awarded a landmark prime contract by the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) to design and manufacture 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) program under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The award is Rocket Lab\u2019s largest single contract to date and underscores its growing reputation as a trusted prime in national security space.<\/p>\n<p>Under the $816 million contract, Rocket Lab will deliver satellites equipped with advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense sensors to provide global, persistent detection and tracking of emerging missile threats, including hypersonic systems. The award includes a $806 million base contract plus up to $10.45 million in options. Each satellite will feature Rocket Lab\u2019s next-generation Phoenix infrared sensor payload, a wide field-of-view (WFOV) solution designed to meet the evolving missile defense needs of national security space. To ensure mission resilience, the satellites will be equipped with Rocket Lab\u2019s advanced StarLite space protection sensors, designed to safeguard the constellation against directed energy threats. Notably, StarLite sensors have also been adopted by other prime contractors developing TRKT3 satellites, further expanding Rocket Lab\u2019s role in the program and unlocking additional contract value beyond its own satellite production. In addition to the $816M prime contract award value, as a leading merchant supplier to the other TRKT3 prime contractors, there are additional subsystem opportunities that could take the total capture value to approximately $1 billion for supplying items such as payloads, solar solutions, attitude determination and control components, software, and other solutions from our broad portfolio of capabilities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget-layout related-content-also-read-box my-3\">\n<h4 class=\"mb-0\">Also Read: What do you mean by Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rocket Lab\u2019s satellites will be built on its proven Lightning platform, leveraging the Company\u2019s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities to deliver an unmatched combination of speed, cost efficiency, and quality. All major components \u2013 from solar arrays, reaction wheels, and star trackers to propulsion systems, avionics,&nbsp;payloads, and launch dispensers \u2013 are designed and produced in-house. This end-to-end approach enables Rocket Lab to rapidly scale production while maintaining control over cost and schedule, a critical advantage in meeting the urgent demands of national security missions.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe Tranche 3 Tracking Layer constellation is part of the U.S. Space Force\u2019s strategy to counter rapidly evolving global threats, ensuring the nation\u2019s defense capabilities remain ahead of adversaries. Rocket Lab is honored to play a role in enabling this,\u201d <strong>said&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em><em><strong>Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck<\/strong>.<\/em><em>&nbsp;\u201cDemand for resilient, scalable, and affordable space systems continues to grow, and this award demonstrates that&nbsp;<\/em><em>Rocket Lab<\/em><em>&nbsp;is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in delivering solutions that meet the needs of national security. As the only commercial provider producing both spacecraft and payloads in-house for the&nbsp;<\/em><em>SDA<\/em><em>&nbsp;Tracking Layer, Rocket Lab is delivering a truly disruptive solution that combines speed, resilience, and affordability. This contract underscores that Rocket Lab\u2019s vertically integrated approach isn\u2019t just a competitive advantage \u2013 we\u2019re enabling a fundamental shift in how national security space programs are executed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This contract builds on Rocket Lab\u2019s existing $515 million award to deliver 18 satellites for SDA\u2019s Transport Layer-Beta Tranche 2 program, which provides secure, low-latency communications across the&nbsp;PWSA. The more than $1.3 billion in contract value now awarded to Rocket Lab by SDA demonstrates strong confidence in Rocket Lab\u2019s ability to execute on large-scale, high-stakes national security programs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab\u2019s growing role as a prime contractor for the U.S. Space Force highlights its emergence as a formidable competitor to legacy aerospace primes. By combining technology, vertical integration, and a proven track record of delivering results, Rocket Lab is redefining what\u2019s possible in national security space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab, a leading launch and space systems company, announced it has been awarded a landmark prime contract by the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) to design and manufacture 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) program under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The award is Rocket Lab\u2019s largest single contract to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,20],"class_list":["post-2238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-launch","tag-satellite"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}