Mission Need

Facing increasingly sophisticated missile threats—including hypersonics—the Department of Defense must shrink the time from detection to decision. The Space Development Agency (SDA) is fielding the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a constellation of several hundred low‑Earth orbit (LEO) satellites designed to process data on orbit rather than relying on ground stations. To deliver that vision at speed and scale, SDA required a secure, repeatable way to develop, test, and validate battle management, command, control and communications (BMC3) mission applications across multi‑vendor satellite hardware—without sacrificing cybersecurity or interoperability.

Solution

SDA selected SAIC to build and operate the cloud‑based BMC3 Application Factory—an end‑to‑end DevSecOps pipeline that moves mission apps from code to orbit with rigor and speed. Instead of listing “major capabilities” separately, the Factory embeds them directly into day‑to‑day delivery:

• DevSecOps automation and validation: Software‑in‑the‑loop and hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, plus source‑code scanning and cyber validation, create a secure, repeatable pipeline for third‑party developers.
• Secure Interoperable Layer (SIL) middleware: A common runtime aboard each Transport Layer satellite’s BMC3 module enables applications from many vendors to run across diverse satellite hardware—an App‑Store‑like model at space scale.
• Cloud One foundation: Built on DoD’s enterprise cloud, the Factory leverages inter‑program synergies—including proven infrastructure, digital engineering assets, and best practices—to accelerate delivery and reduce risk.
• Integrated systems engineering: SAIC weaves software, cyber, secure cloud, engineering, and system integration so applications are packaged, tested on a pathfinder satellite for final checks, and then fielded across the PWSA constellation.

This approach gives SDA and its ecosystem a governed, high‑fidelity path from development to on‑orbit operation while maintaining strict security controls and interoperability across providers.

Mission Impact

With the Application Factory and SIL, SDA can rapidly deliver and upgrade on‑orbit BMC3 applications across PWSA—improving resilience, speeding capability to the warfighter, and advancing the Department’s CJADC2 vision of interconnected battle management. On‑orbit processing pushes critical data directly into theater, enabling accelerated missile warning and a more unified, actionable operating picture for commanders and battle managers.