Contractors will be hired to keep as many as 56 of the Space Force’s ground-based satellite jammers running around the world, well beyond the weapon’s first set of locations.
Trade reports put the fleet at more than double the 24 units that made up the initial order. Industry officials said on October 13 that the first batch of production units leaves the line within about a month.
The hardware is the Remote Modular Terminal, a counter-communications weapon built to go after satellite links in several orbital regimes.
What the terminals do
Work began under a prototype contract with the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, awarded in 2022 at about $22M. Northstrat handled the design with support from CACI and delivered all 24 units inside two years, with the first reaching the field in 18 months. GRVTY, the Arlington Capital Partners company that bought Northstrat in May, now holds the production work.
General manager Roger Stapleton said the terminals will gain signal-processing capability, opening the possibility of targeting multiple satellite signals in one engagement. GRVTY and the Pentagon are discussing next-generation requirements, he added, without giving details.
A Secure World Foundation report in April described the first tranche as using Ku-band antennas, with a follow-on model expected to span several bands. Kelly Hammett, the former Space Rapid Capabilities Office director, has said the service wanted at least 160 systems.
Why silence surrounds the site list
Combat Forces Command chief Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon told The Wall Street Journal that locations are withheld to keep the terminals from being targeted, while confirming they have been emplaced globally and are used in combat.
GRVTY has added vendors to cover antennas and power amplifiers so it can produce at rate, though the company has hit the same long-lead trouble as much of the sector.
