Two Direct to Phase II SBIR awards, each worth $3 million over 24 months, will fly radar-warning receiver payloads on Space Force spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. Program staff plan to select two vendors before year’s end. Defense officials confirm coordination to raise the usual Direct to Phase II ceiling from $2 million to $3 million for integration, flight accommodations, and early operations inside the two-year window.
The office defines a flight-first prototype effort, not a long research project. Prototypes that explored onboard threat warning flew in 2023 on a commercial host. Leadership later called those flights a “quasi-operational success” for monitoring foreign localization activity near U.S. satellites. The new receivers shift to Space Force platforms, which adds configuration control, cybersecurity baselines, and mission-program interfaces beyond a commercial ride.
Recent reporting highlights increased proximity operations in GEO and allied demand for timely alerting when another spacecraft tracks a U.S. satellite. Public briefings point to more maneuverable vehicles and wider use of sensors that localize targets. A small, low-power warning payload on a government bus is intended to shorten detection and alert cycles for operators.
Sbir Awards Details Raised Cap And Selection Plan
The topic entry lists “Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) Radar Warning Receiver Payload,” solicitation marker 25.4, topic SF254-D1101. Requirements include emission detection and classification suited to GEO, radiation-tolerant parts, electromagnetic compatibility, onboard processing, secure data handling, and standard spacecraft interfaces. The program emphasizes tested performance in relevant environments, not bench results alone.
Schedule targets remain tight but consistent with hosted-payload efforts. The plan covers selection this quarter, hardware build and qualification, integration on a government GEO bus, launch accommodations, and on-orbit checkout inside 24 months. Defense officials confirm the intent to keep the effort lean and focused on a working payload. Program material also describes a small optical unit for local object identification as a follow-on SBIR step that pairs with RF warning.
Geo Integration On Space Force Satellites And Rg-Xx Refueling Baseline
Program statements describe ongoing work with a Space Force GEO line on interfaces, power and thermal budgets, RF apertures, fault management hooks, and authority-to-operate packages for command-and-control software. Defense officials confirm those talks. Industry interest centers on compact receivers that fit buses already in service or production, which eases adoption if the demo meets test points.
The neighborhood-watch mission that rides on GSSAP has a successor known as RG-XX. Public guidance in late September set on-orbit refueling as a baseline requirement and outlined a plan that uses multiple providers under government ownership and operations. Acquisition leaders signaled a draft solicitation by year’s end. Refueling drives duty cycles, mass margins, and service-port layouts and supports standardized self-protection sensors over longer service lives. A compact, low-draw receiver aligns with that direction.
Technical Requirements For Low-Swap Radar-Warning Receivers In Geo
Receiver architecture for GEO favors wideband front-ends, agile digital down-conversion, and classification models trained on known emitter libraries. Antenna options include conformal patches that avoid deployables or small booms when added gain is needed. Placement must protect star trackers and solar arrays and avoid thermal hot spots or blocking. The topic asks bidders to prove electromagnetic compatibility with high-power transmitters on the host.
Radiation drives parts choices. GEO hardware needs evidence for total-ionizing-dose tolerance and single-event performance over long dwell times. The topic calls for credible parts lists, derating plans, and qualification methods that withstand independent review. Calibration needs attention across thermal cycles and aging. Teams should plan scheduled observations of known emitters or injected tones during quiet periods to hold classification accuracy.
False alarms carry cost. A credible plan defines thresholds for search, track, and targeting modes and shows receiver-operating characteristics against representative radar sets. Test design should blend live encounters, controlled trials with cooperating assets, and high-fidelity replays at GEO-realistic power and timing. Results from the 2023 flights support a government-bus demo, yet the new effort must meet mission-program constraints that did not apply on a commercial host.
Ground Segment Readiness Atlas Operational Status And Follow-On Optical Unit
On September 30, the Space Force declared the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System operational under Space Operations Command. Service statements describe ATLAS as the deployed backbone for space-domain awareness processes that replaces legacy tools and adds data fusion and cataloging. That status gives the radar-warning payloads a defined endpoint for alerts and correlation, provided message formats and latency targets match published standards.
Industry notes point to compact processing footprints for onboard classification and secure downlinks that align with ground interfaces already accepted by the Space Force. Suppliers that implement those interfaces can reduce integration friction and shorten the path from emission capture to operator display. Program material lists a follow-on SBIR for a small optical payload previewed in mid-September briefings. The optical unit adds local identification and geometry cues and complements RF warning without large mass growth.
What The Demonstration Aims To Prove For Geo Self-Protection
According to industry sources, teams are preparing wideband front-ends and agile processing inside GEO power and thermal margins and are reserving room for the planned optical unit. Proposals need to demonstrate electromagnetic compatibility with main payload transmitters and prove secure storage and encrypted transport under existing cyber rules. Defense officials confirm the office intends to deliver usable alert data into existing watch centers during the demo, not lab-only figures. That goal requires clear operator thresholds, reliable control of false alarms, and clean routing through the mission network.
Our analysis shows the radar-warning demo, the refueling baseline for RG-XX, and ATLAS’s operational status create a workable minimum for GEO protection: self-sensing on the spacecraft, longer-lived platforms suited to standardized kits, and a ground system ready to ingest alerts at speed. The plan relies on commercially available technology tailored for GEO and a lean contracting track limited to two awards and 24 months, which narrows risk and keeps attention on field performance.
REFERENCE SOURCES
- https://breakingdefense.com/2025/10/space-rapid-capabilities-office-to-award-contracts-to-put-radars-on-sats-to-warn-of-space-bound-threats/
- https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics/api/public/topics/5dfa46639f12461ca013e24f14397f22_86348/download/PDF
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- https://amostech.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AMOS-2025-Program.pdf
- https://amostech.com/agenda/
