The US Department of Defense has awarded contracts worth up to $1.843 billion to multiple companies to develop next-generation space domain awareness capabilities under the US Space Force’s Andromeda program.
Previously known as RG-XX, Andromeda will support a new generation of low-cost “neighborhood watch” satellites designed to monitor activity in Earth’s orbit.
The constellation is expected to eventually replace the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, which has supported the military’s current surveillance network since 2014.
14 Companies, Work Through 2036
A US Space Force solicitation published in February outlined that the program’s initial phase will “define, design, and build technologies and space-based systems.”
Selected companies include American defense industry giants such as Anduril Industries, BAE Systems Space Mission Systems, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Sierra Space.
Other participants include Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems, Astranis Space Technologies, Intuitive Machines, Quantum Space, Redwire Space Missions, True Anomaly, and Turion Space.
The competition drew 32 proposals. At the time of the award, the US Space Force obligated $1.4 million in research, development, test, and evaluation funding.
The contracts use a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity structure, allowing the service to issue task orders over the next decade without reopening competition and enabling faster procurement as requirements evolve.
Work will be carried out across multiple US locations through April 2036, with oversight by Space Systems Command in El Segundo, California.
