Enhanced PTS-P is part of the Space Force’s Force Design and is intended to expand protected satellite communications to support warfighters operating in highly contested environments. The program is under the purview of the Acting PAE and is managed by Space Systems Command’s System Delta 88, led by U.S. Space Force Col. A.J. Ashby.

The prototype is designed to improve satellite communications performance in the presence of jamming through advanced antennas and space-based processing of the Protected Tactical Waveform, or PTW.

“Enhanced PTS-P represents another important step in delivering more resilient, protected communications capabilities to the joint force,” said Erin Carper, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Satellite Communications and Positioning, Navigation and Timing. “This capability will help ensure tactical users can operate with greater confidence in contested environments.”

As part of the Enhanced PTS-P acquisition strategy, this contract exemplifies multiple Department of War Acquisition Transformation principles by emphasizing contractor accountability and affordability.

The strategy also improves contracting processes by leveraging follow-on Other Transaction authorities, which is a flexible pathway for the government to develop and prototype new capabilities faster. Northrop Grumman was previously awarded prototype contracts and completed critical design reviews in 2021.

Most importantly, Enhanced PTS-P accelerates capability to the warfighter by utilizing an additional middle-tier acquisition period to iteratively deliver improved PTW satellite communications for earlier operational use on the path to full requirement satisfaction.

“Enhanced PTS-P pairs innovative technology with an acquisition approach designed to move faster and deliver protected SATCOM capabilities where they are needed most,” said Mozhdeh Najafabadi, PTS-P/R system program manager. “That combination is essential as we acquire and employ more resilient space capabilities.”

Enhanced PTS-P is expected to inform future Protected Tactical Satellite Communications capability development and demonstrate how the Space Force can deliver more responsive, resilient communications options to support the joint force.

Source: Space Systems Command

Your competitors read IC News each day. Shouldn’t you? Learn more about our subscription options, and keep up with every move in the IC contracting space.

The post SSC awards Enhanced PTS-P contract to Northrop Grumman appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The business’s Compact Modular Open Systems Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) card can be used to provide resilient navigation for ground vehicles, including robotic and autonomous platforms. While paired with an external antenna, the solution demonstrated exceptional performance in a denied and degraded GPS environment.

“Our card provides highly precise navigation in contested environments, and a scalable, cost-effective solution that is ready now for integration on a variety of platforms,” said Sandy Brown, vice president and general manager of mission critical products at Collins Aerospace. “The smaller form factor allows for faster mission customization and improved situational awareness.”

During the experiment, Collins’ APNT system maintained assured navigation despite the presence of a significant number of jammers and spoofers. Leveraging Military-code GPS and internal and external organic sensors, the solution fused multiple data sources to ensure uninterrupted connectivity for ground vehicles, even in the absence of reliable GPS data.

All-Domain Persistent Experiment is the Army’s open-air experimentation environment to test capabilities in Denied/Degraded, Intermittent, Limited conditions to advance sensor technologies, networks, data processing, PNT and electronic warfare systems.

Source: Collins Aerospace

Start 2026 ahead of the competition with a paid subscription to IC News. You’ll get full access to our searchable archive of 15,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post RTX’s Collins Aerospace demos APNT tech appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The award follows Infleqtion’s first-place finish in the xTechScalable AI Challenge, where SAPIENT was selected as one of only four winners from an initial pool of 133 submissions. The contract represents a significant milestone in bringing Infleqtion’s CML technology from concept to application. First introduced at NVIDIA GTC in March, CML allows AI models to learn from diverse data sources and extended timeframes, a key advance toward more adaptive, context-aware intelligence.

“SAPIENT builds on the early promise of CML by applying it to some of the military’s most urgent edge-AI challenges,” said Pranav Gokhale, chief technology officer at Infleqtion. “We’re honored to continue working with the Army to develop scalable solutions that enhance operational resilience in the presence of adversarial threats.”

Modern battlefield environments require the fusion of multiple streams of data, from GPS/GNSS and inertial navigation systems to computer vision, processed at the edge and often in the absence of stable connectivity. SAPIENT addresses this challenge by combining quantum-inspired multimodal learning techniques and Boltzmann Machine-based models to integrate data from diverse sources, even when some signals are degraded or intentionally spoofed.

The resulting AI is designed to operate on compact, power-efficient edge platforms, allowing for deployment in constrained or disconnected environments, the company said.

Source: Infleqtion

Time is running out — become a paid subscriber to IC News today, and lock in subscription rates at 2025 prices. You’ll get full access to breaking news from across the IC contracting space, with new articles each weekday.

The post Infleqtion secures SBIR contract for SAPIENT appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

Developed by Raytheon, an RTX business, LTAMDS is a next-generation radar designed to detect and defeat complex and emerging threats. As the program transitions into low-rate initial production, Safran’s VersaSync Flex system provides the precise, resilient timing architecture critical to the system’s 360-degree operational capability. The VersaSync Flex is engineered for low size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) to meet stringent operational demands.

“Our collaboration with Raytheon and the Army on the LTAMDS program demonstrates our commitment to resilient time synchronization technologies that support the modernization of U.S. and allied defense systems,” said Hironori Sasaki, president and chief executive officer of Safran Federal Systems. “Being selected to support LTAMDS with our VersaSync Flex is a testament to our proven record of delivering PNT solutions in mission-critical environments.”

“Safran Federal Systems has proven to be a reliable provider of advanced timing technologies to meet the demanding standards required for LTAMDS,” said Mike Mills, executive director for LTAMDS and GhostEye programs at Raytheon. Safran’s technologies support LTAMDS’ 360- degree detection capabilities that counter massive, coordinated attacks from adversaries.”

LTAMDS is designed to counter evolving threats such as hypersonic weapons, advanced ballistic missiles and UAVs. Earlier this year, LTAMDS achieved the Department of Defense’s Major Capability Acquisition Milestone C designation, initiating the production and deployment phase of the program. LTAMDS is now officially designated a program of record by the U.S. Army and ready to support both its U.S. homeland defense and expeditionary missions.

Source: Safran Federal Systems

IC News delivers the situational awareness you need to get ahead and stay ahead in the IC contracting space. Subscribe today for full access to 10,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post Safran to participate in LTAMDS program appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The addition of Vector Atomic’s field-validated portfolio of high-performance clocks, synchronization hardware, gravimeters, and inertial sensors further establishes IonQ as the only quantum company integrating advanced computing, networking, and sensing capabilities within a single platform. All 76 of Vector Atomic’s employees will join IonQ, adding to the company’s world-class quantum talent pool. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Pleasanton, California.

“This acquisition marks a significant acceleration and expansion opportunity for IonQ as we continue to lead the commercialization of quantum technologies,” said Niccolo de Masi, chairman and CEO of IonQ. “Integrating Vector Atomic’s sensing capabilities across our compute, networking, and space portfolios will advance our mission to provide scalable, commercial-grade quantum solutions for our customers today. The addition of Vector Atomic’s 29 pending and issued patents to IonQ’s formidable patent portfolio, and its talented team of scientists and engineers will help us reach our quantum technology goals.”

Vector Atomic’s rackmount optical atomic clocks and advanced PNT systems set the benchmark for precision sensing and align seamlessly with IonQ’s strategy of scalable, deployable quantum technologies. The company’s PNT systems enable ultra-precise detection, reliable navigation that is immune to signal jamming, and other types of cyber threats. Vector Atomic’s technology is already trusted by some of the world’s most demanding national security programs, including a recent contract for the U.S. Department of Defense’s classified X-37B orbital test vehicle project, and applications for military submarine sensing capabilities.

“Joining IonQ supercharges our company’s ability to scale our technology, broaden our impact, and contribute to the world’s most advanced quantum technology team,” said Dr. Jamil Abo-Shaeer, CEO and co-founder of Vector Atomic. “Together, we will accelerate the commercialization of quantum sensing technologies and enhance quantum computing and networking capabilities.”

Source: IonQ

IC News delivers the situational awareness you need to get ahead and stay ahead in the IC contracting space. Subscribe today for full access to 10,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post IonQ to acquire Vector Atomic appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The new program, PNT-SENTINEL (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing – Secure Electronic Navigation Threat Intelligence and Location), provides Slingshot new funding to enhance its already operational technology by incorporating AI and predictive analytics to more rapidly disseminate insights to warfighters and support faster, more informed decision making.

The PNT-SENTINEL contract was awarded as a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract by SpaceWERX, a unique space-focused division within the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force, AFWERX. SSC awarded Slingshot a $1.9 million Phase 1 contract to develop its initial GPS jamming detection capability called DEEP (Data Exploitation and Enhanced Processing) in October 2021. The technology produced as a result of the DEEP contract provides the foundation for PNT-SENTINEL and is currently being used by the USSF to detect GPS jamming and ground-based interference sources as they relate to ongoing conflicts, potential future conflict zones, and counterterrorism efforts.

“Modern military operations rely on space systems like GPS, so it’s no surprise that GPS jamming is already a pervasive threat,” said Tim Solms, chief executive officer, Slingshot Aerospace. “In addition to military operations, the larger global community is also highly reliant on GPS, but jamming and spoofing may not discriminate between military and civilian users – meaning that functions of daily life like financial transactions and commercial air traffic control could also be affected.”

Today’s global community relies more than ever on the signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which are satellite constellations that provide global PNT services. This includes the U.S. GPS system, the European Galileo system, and more. By interfering with those signals, bad actors can hamper satellite operations over a certain region. This interference also impacts ground- and air-based operations, including crewed aircraft, drones, and precision-guided munitions–and disrupts critical services for everything from troops on the ground to commercial airline operations and passenger vehicle navigation.

As part of the contract, Slingshot will leverage its recently announced AI model called Agatha, which helps identify anomalous spacecraft within large satellite constellations, to further explore, develop, and integrate cutting-edge AI into PNT-SENTINEL. By layering AI into Slingshot’s current technology, it will become more robust and automated in its ability to detect and flag jamming and spoofing threats, as well as differentiate between unintentional or anomalous interference and nefarious acts.

Source: Slingshot Aerospace

Start 2025 ahead of the competition with a paid subscription to IC News. You’ll get full access to our searchable archive of 13,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post Slingshot Aerospace chosen to provide USSF GPS jamming detection tech appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The service, named Satellite Time and Location (STL), is an easy-to-adopt, highly secure solution that increases the efficiency and reliability of timing systems for digital infrastructure like 5G base stations, data centers, and other critical infrastructure and protects against GNSS vulnerabilities using low-cost hardware that doesn’t require outdoor antennas. This acquisition continues Iridium’s philosophy of investing in differentiating technologies uniquely suited to its network that significantly outperform competing solutions.

The market for assured Positioning Navigation and Timing (PNT) services, estimated to reach $3.5 billion in 2032, is evolving to require integrated small-form-factor devices instead of the server rack-size solutions connected to outdoor GPS antennas that are available today. Time synchronization and location data play an important role in the global economy, particularly in the commercial sector for major industries supported by critical infrastructure, such as financial services, telecommunications, cyber security, and transportation. These industries and others rely on an estimated 10,000 data centers globally and their hundreds of millions of data processing and storage servers. Each of these servers requires time synchronization and can benefit from the in-server room efficiency and resilience delivered by Iridium STL.

Iridium will now work to reduce the size and cost barriers to adoption, enabling deployment of a more accessible solution for integration with autonomous systems, consumer devices, vehicles and traditional markets like aviation, maritime and land mobile. It also provides an opportunity for Iridium’s existing partner eco-system to add to their portfolio of solutions and harden their GNSS-reliant products and infrastructure.

“This market is growing; it’s a perfect application of our network, and this solution solves a problem for critical industries better than anything else,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch.  “Acquiring Satelles makes perfect sense for Iridium and is consistent with what our strategy has always been, which is to take advantage of our unique network to do what others can’t or do it better than anyone else can.  STL is the superior solution available today, and we have been following and investing in Satelles’s technology roadmap to allow us to create even more opportunity. We’re excited to formally bring the Satelles team “in-house,” to the Iridium family.”

The STL service utilizes the stronger broadcast paging channels of the Iridium satellite constellation to deliver precise timing information, which provides truly global, secure time and location signals that are 1,000 times more powerful than GNSS constellations. The service is resilient to regional GNSS outages, works inside buildings and is being used today to secure digital infrastructure for financial markets, governments, and major corporations.

STL will become a new business line of Iridium, led by Satelles CEO, Dr. Michael O’Connor, who will report to Iridium CEO Matt Desch.  “Bringing STL into the Iridium family is going to be a supercharger for this capability that will benefit our customers and our society. I look forward to a bright future together,” said O’Connor.

Source: Iridium

Your competitors read IC News each day. Shouldn’t you? Learn more about our subscription options, and keep up with every move in the IC contracting space.

The post Iridium acquires Satelles appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The groundbreaking partnership will empower TrustPoint to implement the first-ever zero-trust, end-to-end commercial PNT system across all space and ground segment components. OrbitSecure’s cutting-edge products will secure all aspects of data storage and transmission, including Queueing and Messaging for Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C), at the data level using its patented distributed ledger and key distribution system.

As part of the agreement, SpiderOak will deploy a planned upgrade in the OrbitSecure platform later in 2024. This upgrade will fortify the provenance and security of critical data elements contained within the Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) service, incorporating a proprietary authentication system to counter key forms of spoofing effectively.

“At TrustPoint, we are committed to revolutionizing the GNSS market, and this partnership with SpiderOak is a significant leap towards achieving that goal,” said Chris DeMay, founder and COO of TrustPoint. “Our end to end implementation of OrbitSecure ensures unprecedented security for our GNSS system, setting new standards for cybersecurity, mission resilience, and data reliability.”

“SpiderOak is thrilled to join forces with TrustPoint to build in cybersecurity from the ground up. While backward compatible with on orbit systems, working side by side with TrustPoint in development makes all segments of its entire GNSS system completely ‘bullet proof’ against any form of cyber-attack,” said Charles Beames, SpiderOak executive chairman. “The OrbitSecure software suite is designed to provide robust protection at every level, and we are excited to fully implement it across TrustPoint’s innovative products and services.”

Source: TrustPoint

IC News delivers the situational awareness you need to get ahead and stay ahead in the IC contracting space. Subscribe today for full access to 10,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post TrustPoint partners with SpiderOak appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

Previously, CACI announced a 2023 satellite launch to test a multi-mission small satellite payload. The payload includes two software-defined technology applications that enable precise, resilient PNT and tactical signals intelligence (TacISR) capabilities while in low earth orbit (LEO). CACI’s PNT and TacISR payloads highlight the unique power of software-defined radio-based modules that can be configured for multiple missions. The USASMDC-TC expressed interest in participating in the program to evaluate these technologies for military use. The CRADA also includes technologies for laser communications, laser sensing, artificial intelligence, and secure communication technologies.

Todd Probert, CACI president of national security and innovative solutions, said, “These payloads feature mission-proven, ground-based technologies that are tailored for the unique challenges of the contested space domain. They enable increased resiliency and security through low size, weight, and power (SWaP) software-defined applications. We look forward to working closely with the Army on this critical program to bolster our nation’s dominance in space.”

The time-focused PNT payload application is the critical enabler of precision positioning and navigation and will demonstrate GPS-independent earth-space time synchronization that exceeds current performance by 100 times. The resulting time accuracy will be used to produce high-precision geolocation solutions in proliferated LEO constellations, contribute to GPS resiliency, and provide augmentation in GPS-denied or degraded environments. Concurrently, the tactical ISR payload application will demonstrate the ability to collect, geolocate, demodulate, and decode digital mobile radio signals.

Source: CACI

Your competitors read IC News each day. Shouldn’t you? Learn more about our subscription options, and keep up with every move in the IC contracting space.

The post CACI signs US Army advanced satellite CRADA appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

Industry partner L3Harris Technologies, the spacecraft prime contractor, recently delivered the NTS-3 space vehicle to an Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, integration and test facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The satellite integrates an agile positioning, navigation and timing, or PNT, payload to the Northrop Grumman ESPAStar bus, to provide a space platform for AFRL and partner organization experiments and integrated capability demonstrations.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of the Air Force designated NTS-3 as one of the first three Vanguard programs to deliver innovative, game-changing capabilities to the warfighter at an accelerated pace. NTS-3, which is managed by the AFRL Transformational Capabilities Office and has program partners in both the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force, will push the boundary of PNT technology to pave the way for a more flexible, robust and resilient architecture for satellite navigation.

Arlen Biersgreen, the NTS-3 program manager, was thrilled to witness the delivery of the space vehicle and all ground support equipment needed for the remaining integration and test tasks.

“This major milestone marks the transition from space system development at contractor’s facilities to the final stage of integration and test activities,” Biersgreen said. “The AFRL team will be overseeing and working closely with L3Harris and other key industry partners to apply an effective combination of contractor and government resources to successfully complete this phase of the effort.”

AFRL and L3Harris are now completing the remaining intra-payload and payload-to-bus functional and performance tests, including the first radio frequency broadcast tests of the novel PNT signals that will be demonstrated from near-geosynchronous orbit after the NTS-3 launch.

Biersgreen said following those activities, the team will perform standard space environment tests that simulate the launch and space environments to verify the system is ready for the rigors of experimental operations in space. He added that experimental performance data from ground testing will be available for sharing with program partners during  the next several months.

The Global Navigation Satellite System Test Architecture, or GNSSTA, developed by the MITRE Corporation in partnership with the AFRL Sensors Directorate, is crucial for meeting end-to-end NTS-3 mission objectives. GNSSTA is a reprogrammable software-defined receiver allowing users to receive both legacy GPS and advanced signals generated by NTS-3. It lays the groundwork for future operational receivers to provide the Space Force with options to prevent and respond quickly to common threats on the battlefield, like GPS jamming and spoofing.

Dr. Joanna Hinks, the NTS-3 principal investigator, has worked closely with the Sensors team on the GNSSTA development and testing.

“The entire team is excited that earlier this month, we successfully generated signals on the actual spacecraft and received them with our experimental GNSSTA user equipment,” Hinks said. “Showing the space segment and user segment working together like that is an important step to being ready to conduct experiments on-orbit.”

NTS-3 is the first U.S. experiment of its kind in nearly 50 years, since the Navy Research Laboratory’s NTS-1 and NTS-2 spacecraft led the way for the Global Positioning System, or GPS, constellation in the 1970s.

“This Vanguard not only aims to support GPS users through vital development of new technologies and techniques, but also to show how an agile and responsive U.S. satellite navigation architecture is paramount to defeating the most challenging threats to warfighter success, both today and through the coming decades,” Biersgreen said.

Source: AFRL

Like IC News? Then please consider subscribing. You’ll get full access to our searchable library of 10,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.

The post AFRL NTS-3 Vanguard meets latest milestone appeared first on Intelligence Community News.