Space News

The Pentagon’s new space agency is working to develop a network of satellites in low Earth orbit to serve as the eyes and ears of military forces in the field. While typically it would take the Defense Department a decade to field such systems, the Space Development Agency plans to have satellites in orbit within two years.

Derek Tournear, director of the SDA, said the agency selected as its motto “semper citius” — Latin for “always faster” — to emphasize the idea that putting good-enough capabilities in the hands of troops soon is preferable to delivering the perfect solution too late.

Speaking Aug. 4 at the 34th Annual Small Satellite Conference, a virtual event underway this week, Tournear said the SDA over the next several years will buy and deploy hundreds of satellites. But he prefers the conversation to be about the jobs those satellites will do rather than the technology itself.

“We are focused on the warfighter and providing capabilities,” Tournear said. “We want to talk a lot about satellites but, realistically, we’re trying to work backwards and say, ‘what does that warfighter need in space to be able to accomplish the mission?’”

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