Washington – The Air Force Department is rethinking the purchase of satellites for a low Earth class military constellations, stopping funds for the program in FY 2026, while checking whether SpaceX’s Starsex Starsex’s Starsex satellite can provide similar capabilities at low cost.
In the proposed 2026 budget of the Trump administration, a mesh network of satellites designed for safe communication and missile tracking operated by Space Force’s Space Force will be suspended to purchase data-transport satellites for proliferated warfeeter Space Architecture (PWSA). The result of the review may affect the purchase of 140 satellites for the Transport Layer Trench 3, which the SDA planned to order for deployment in 2026 in 2026.
The head of the space operation, General Chance Saltzman, confirmed the possibility of this change during the hearing of the Congress on 26 June, told the defense sub -committee of the Senate Appropriation Committee that the service would pursue analysis of options to determine the way forward.
Saltzman said, “Now we have to see what other avenues are there to be distributed, potentially, a commercial, proliferated low Earth’s orbit constellation,” said Saltzman. “So we are simply looking at the options because we see what is the best way to scale it to big requirements for data transport.”
PWSA represents one of the major programs of space force, designed to create a flexible network of hundreds of satellites in the low Earth’s orbit that can communicate with each other and track missiles. The program has been structured around regular competitive procurement, provided to maintain competition and reduce costs to various contractors with various “installments” or batch of satellites.
Saltzmann assured the MPs that the satellites already ordered for the first two installments of the transport network would be funded and deployed as employed.
Starsilded optional
A military version of the company’s Commercial Starlink Broadband satellites, a potential alternative center on Spacex’s Starshield program. The news is that the Pentagon was first revealed in March when Sen Kevin Kramer (RN.D.) questioned Air Force Secretary Nominee Troy Meink during a confirmation hearing about the budget discussion about the PWSA program.
The under consideration is to replace the Trench 3 satellites with a spacecraft, which the Space Force plans to purchase from SpaceX for the “Milnet” network of 480 Starsild satellites that the company will work for the US Army. These satellites will use optical laser cross-links to pass data between spacecraft as part of a broad “hybrid Aries network” that integrates both military and commercial satellites.
Unlike competitively purchased PWSA satellites, Milnet satellites will be funded by space force and purchased under an existing contract managed by the National Honor Office, which to deploy a proliferate low -class class network supporting intelligence and military users.
Concern of competition
Potential changes have raised concerns among MPs about reducing competition in the defense space sector. Sen Chris Cons (D-Dale.) On June 26, during the hearing about the implication of handing over a major contract to a single seller to a single seller, the Secretary of the Air Force Troy Minks.
“No competition, no open architecture, no dynamic space takes advantage of the ecosystem. It is a huge and important contract,” Cons said. “It does not depend on their ownership techniques to hand over SpaceX and avoid the very positive benefits of competition and open architecture?”
Senator’s concerns reflect the widespread efforts of Pentagon to promote competition among space contractors in recent years and to avoid more dependence on single vendors for important capabilities.
Meink said no decision has been taken about the use of Milnet for data transport. “How we are moving forward in the field that is something that is still under consideration, and we will look at his acquisition,” he said.
Industry influence
Potential cancellation of transport layer Trench 3 can significantly affect satellite manufacturers and their supply chains, who have invested heavy in manufacturing capacity to support SDA programs. Companies have been assured that PWSA will create a continuous market with regular competitive opportunities.
The Space Development Agency, which manages the PWSA program, has a budget of about $ 5 billion in 2026. The agency has deployed the program as the foundation stone of the Pentagon strategy, which is to maintain space superiority through a large number of satellites that will be difficult to destroy or disable opponents.
Industry sources said that the planned purchase of Milnet network has raised questions about potential repetition with PWSA transport layer and whether both programs can be added. Such consolations can streamline the space architecture of the pentagon, but will also eliminate competitive opportunities that have operated innovation and cost cuts in the region.
