US Space Force confirms SpaceX will build sensor-to-shooter targeting network
US Space Force confirms SpaceX will build sensor-to-shooter targeting network
美国太空军确认 SpaceX 将构建“传感器到射手”目标定位网络
SpaceX has won a lucrative contract to provide the US military with a means of distributing space-based sensing and targeting data, forming the “backbone” of a rearchitected network after separate Pentagon initiatives stalled, officials announced Tuesday. SpaceX 已赢得一份利润丰厚的合同，将为美军提供一种分发天基传感和目标定位数据的方法。在五角大楼此前的多项独立计划陷入停滞后，该项目将构成重构后网络的核心“骨干”。官员们于周二宣布了这一消息。
Space Systems Command, the Space Force’s primary procurement and acquisition center, announced the $2.29 billion firm-fixed-price agreement, confirming long-simmering reports that the Pentagon was likely to tap SpaceX for a new communications network in low-Earth orbit. 作为太空军主要的采购与采办中心，太空系统司令部（Space Systems Command）宣布了这份价值 22.9 亿美元的固定价格合同，证实了此前流传已久的报道——即五角大楼极有可能选择 SpaceX 来构建一个新的近地轨道通信网络。
SpaceX’s selection for the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone contract “accelerates the delivery of a resilient, high-speed communications network in space,” Space Systems Command said in a statement. The network will be based on technology originally developed for SpaceX’s Starlink global Internet constellation. 太空系统司令部在一份声明中表示，选择 SpaceX 承担“太空数据网络”（SDN）骨干网合同，“加速了在太空交付弹性、高速通信网络的进程”。该网络将基于最初为 SpaceX 的“星链”（Starlink）全球互联网星座开发的各项技术。
SpaceX already builds and launches specially designed satellites, called Starshield, for military applications. The SDN Backbone network in low-Earth orbit (LEO) will presumably use the Starshield platform. SpaceX 已经为军事应用制造并发射了名为“星盾”（Starshield）的专用卫星。近地轨道（LEO）上的 SDN 骨干网预计将使用“星盾”平台。
“This award will enhance the network with an expanded optically interconnected mesh of satellites delivering worldwide tactical communications and broadband communication services,” Space Systems Command said. 太空系统司令部表示：“此次授标将通过扩展的光互联卫星网格来增强网络，从而提供全球战术通信和宽带通信服务。”
Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting, said the network “leverages the best of commercial innovation” and will be a “huge benefit and enabler” for US military forces. The network “acts as a core communications layer for the USSF war-fighting systems, ensuring our sensors and shooters are connected continuously, globally and securely,” Frazier said in a press release. 太空军天基传感与目标定位代理投资组合采办主管 Ryan Frazier 上校表示，该网络“利用了商业创新的精华”，并将成为美军的“巨大助力和赋能者”。Frazier 在新闻稿中称，该网络“充当了美国太空军作战系统的核心通信层，确保我们的传感器和射手能够持续、全球化且安全地连接”。
Changing midstream
中途转向
This may sound familiar to anyone who has kept up with the evolution of a Pentagon office named the Space Development Agency. Established in 2019, SDA started launching prototypes for a constellation of missile-tracking and data-relay satellites in 2023. The idea was to rapidly procure, develop, and field new generations of tracking and data “transport” satellites every two years. 对于任何关注过五角大楼下属“太空发展局”（SDA）演变的人来说，这听起来可能很熟悉。SDA 成立于 2019 年，并于 2023 年开始发射导弹跟踪和数据中继卫星星座的原型机。其构想是每两年快速采购、开发并部署新一代跟踪和数据“传输”卫星。
SDA’s strategy was to cast a wide net across the US space industry, using satellites and sensors developed by many companies. But SDA’s architecture stalled, and military officials blamed the delays on bottlenecks in satellite supply chains and difficulties integrating the network and its numerous contractors. The Government Accountability Office last year also identified technical problems that slowed the program’s development and adoption. SDA 的策略是在美国航天工业中广撒网，使用由多家公司开发的卫星和传感器。但 SDA 的架构陷入了停滞，军方官员将延误归咎于卫星供应链的瓶颈，以及整合该网络及其众多承包商的困难。美国政府问责局去年也指出了阻碍该项目开发和采用的技术问题。
The first budget request from the second Trump administration last year revealed a change in the Pentagon’s thinking. In budget documents, White House officials mentioned a new program called “pLEO SATCOM” or “MILNET” while proposing to eliminate funding for the next tranche of data transport satellites from the Space Development Agency. MILNET has since been renamed the Space Data Network. 特朗普政府第二任期内的首份预算申请揭示了五角大楼思路的转变。在预算文件中，白宫官员提到了一个名为“pLEO SATCOM”或“MILNET”的新项目，同时提议取消对太空发展局下一批数据传输卫星的资助。MILNET 此后被更名为“太空数据网络”。
Lawmakers have voiced concerns about moving away from SDA’s original strategy, which leaned on competition and open architectures, and giving the network to a single company. Space Systems Command said Tuesday that the Space Data Network will work with “multiple vendors” with plans to “expand its participants over the summer.” 立法者们对背离 SDA 最初依赖竞争和开放架构的策略，并将网络交给单一公司运营表示担忧。太空系统司令部周二表示，太空数据网络将与“多家供应商”合作，并计划“在夏季扩大参与者范围”。
“Our acquisition strategy is designed to foster competition and broaden our industrial base,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Fry, SDN Backbone system program manager, in a statement. “We aren’t trading speed for scale; we are demanding both.” SDN 骨干系统项目经理 Jeffrey Fry 中校在声明中表示：“我们的采办策略旨在促进竞争并扩大我们的工业基础。我们不是用速度换取规模，而是两者兼顾。”