Space Development Agency Awards SAIC $55M for Tranche 3 Program, Northwood Space Raises $30M

SDA Awards Tranche 3 Contract

• 🛰️ The US Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) nearly $55 million for the Tranche 3 (T3) program and integration.
• 🎯 This contract supports system engineering and integration activities for the delivery of T3 space vehicles, aiming to enhance the proliferated war fighter space architecture (PWSA).
• 🔑 The T3 custody layer is an envisioned future capability within the PWSA for continuous custody of target tracks, building upon Tranche 2 advancements.
• 🗓️ Work is expected to be completed by April 30, 2030, with performance in Washington D.C.

Northwood Space Secures Series A Funding

• 🚀 Northwood Space has successfully raised $30 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round.
• 🌐 The company is focused on building a global ground network engineered for scalability, aiming for the largest network in throughput and link capacity.
• 🌍 Northwood plans to deploy multilink sites across six continents by the end of 2026, with capabilities for up to 100 GB per second backhaul.

ESA's Biomass Satellite Launch

• 🌳 The European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer Biomass satellite is set to launch on April 29th from Europe's spaceport.
• 📡 Equipped with a P-band synthetic aperture radar, the satellite will measure the biomass and height of forests globally, penetrating the canopy.
• 📊 This mission, expected to last at least 5 years, will improve assessments of the global carbon cycle, habitat loss rates, and biodiversity impacts.

European Space Industry Collaborations

• 🇪🇺 Reflex Aerospace and Umbra are partnering to offer synthetic aperture radar (SAR) solutions to the European market, focusing on an independent supply chain.
• ⚡ Mission Space and Star Catcher are collaborating to advance real-time space weather monitoring and orbital power solutions, integrating space weather forecasting with an orbital power grid.

Other Space News

• 🇨🇳 China is preparing for the Shenzhou-20 crewed mission and its lunar chief has accused the US of interfering in joint space programs.
• 📊 Boeing has reported its first quarter financial results.
• ✨ A rare planetary alignment forming a cosmic smiley face is expected in the night sky on April 25th.