A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 21 satellites as part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Tranche 1, supporting the Golden Dome for America missile defense system. VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE
September 21, 2026
By Sentry
Key Takeaways:
$1.75bn for 36 birds. SDA awards (announced July 2026) buy 36 Tranche 3 Accelerated Missile Defense (AMDT3) satellites for Golden Dome’s tracking layer in the low-Earth PWSA constellation. Space Force will operate and sustain them. Stated goal: global stereo missile warning, tracking, and defense.
Who builds what. L3Harris: $955 million for 18 hypersonic/ballistic-tracking, missile-defense-variant spacecraft on two planes. Sierra Space: $798 million for 18 missile-warning/tracking variants on two planes. Infrared sensors, low-latency links, data over tactical networks from LEO.
The stack. PWSA Tranche 1: ~155 satellites, 63 up as of July 2026. Tranche 2: 270 in production. Tranche 3: 104 in all. December 2025 already placed 72 Tranche 3 birds with L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Rocket Lab; this batch is aimed at a 2028 launch. Officials: June 2026 directed-energy test autonomously handled simulated drones and cruise missiles. Program claims, not a battlefield score.
The Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded contracts worth $1.75 billion to build 36 satellites to support the Golden Dome for America missile defense system. The awards, announced in July 2026, consists of two agreements that will support Golden Dome’s space-based capabilities. The United States Space Force will be responsible for future operations and sustainment, according to an SDA news release.
The satellites will be part of Tranche 3 of SDA’s Accelerated Missile Defense (AMDT3) space vehicles (SV) to proliferate missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense sensors as part of the tracking layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation developed by SDA as a foundational layer of Golden Dome.
The awards align with SDA plans for a “hybrid missile defense architecture to pursue global stereo coverage and access of missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense capabilities,” according to the news release.
“With these awards, SDA is accelerating the deployment of the tracking layer to provide the homeland, our deployed forces, and allies with global, persistent indications, detection, identification warning, tracking, and defense against advanced and evolving missile threats,” GP Sandhoo, Space Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Missile Warning and Tracking and SDA Director, said in the news release. “AMDT3 expands upon SDA’s previous and current tracking layer generations — Tranches 1, 2 & 3 — marking another milestone in delivering a resilient, global missile warning, missile tracking and missile defense capability.”
Tranche 1 of PWSA consists of about 155 satellites, with 63 deployed as of July 2026. Tranche 2 architecture is currently in production and will consist of 270 satellites. Tranche 3 ultimately will consist of 104 satellites.
The AMDT3 contract calls for 36 SVs across four orbital planes, awarded to two U.S. firms, according to the SDA news release:Under a $955 million agreement, L3 Harris will provide 18 hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor-like missile defense variant SVs across two orbital planes.
Sierra Space will receive $798 million to produce 18 missile warning/missile tracking variant SVs across two orbital planes.
“SDA’s Tracking Layer forms a global constellation of missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense satellites, equipped with infrared sensing payloads, that will integrate with a low-latency communication network,” according to the news release. “These satellites will provide mission data directly over tactical data links from low Earth orbit.”
The Space Force awarded initial contracts for Tranche 3 in December 2025 to L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Rocket Lab for a total of 72 satellites. This final batch of satellites are expected to be delivered in time for a 2028 launch.
U.S. officials said they first successfully tested Golden Dome’s capability in June 2026 after a directed-energy system autonomously detected, targeted and defeated multiple simulated incoming threats, including drones and cruise missiles.
About Sentry
Sentry is a professional military magazine published by the Commander of United States Strategic Command to provide a forum for national security personnel.
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