Pentagon launching mission operations center for Space Data Network to support Golden Dome and other modernization efforts – DefenseScoop

Pentagon launching mission operations center for Space Data Network to support Golden Dome and other modernization efforts  DefenseScoop

Viasat received an initial task order valued at $115 million to design, field and scale the mission operations center. The U.S. military is launching a mission operations center for the Space Data Network Backbone program that’s expected to advance top modernization priorities, such as the Golden Dome missile defense architecture and other systems that depend on digital connectivity. The Space Force’s Space Systems Command announced the move Thursday, noting that Viasat has been awarded a “competitive” IDIQ contract worth up to $450 million to support network and mission system integration. The company received an initial task order valued at $115 million to design, field and scale the mission operations center. “The MOC will bring together mission integration, network operations, and data transport management across a growing multi-vendor architecture, helping SSC’s Space-Based Sensing and Targeting (SBST) portfolio field an operationally integrated capability,” according to a Space Force press release.

“As the central integration hub for orchestrating mission systems across multiple constellations and providers, the MOC strengthens the foundation for secure, resilient, high-capacity connectivity support for warfighters across air, land, sea and space domains,” per the release. The Space Data Network is expected to include a multi-orbit satellite constellation and a hybrid architecture that includes both military-owned and commercial payloads built by different companies to provide high-speed data transport and tactical communications