Mercury Systems, Inc. announced it was awarded a $31 million contract from L3Harris Technologies to provide solid-state data recorders for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA)?s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellite constellation. L3Harris was selected in January 2024 to design and build 18 satellites that will provide near-global missile warning and tracking coverage, with preliminary missile defense, under SDA?s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program. The Tracking Layer is part of SDA?s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a layered network of military satellites supporting multiple missions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Tranche 2 follows the 16-satellite constellation L3Harris is building for Tranche 1, and the four recently launched satellites it built for the Tranche 0. Mercury?s solid-state data recorders (SSDRs) are the primary storage devices on all three L3Harris constellations. These radiation-tolerant devices enable on-orbit sensor data processing and storage in a 3U VPX form factor, with a microprocessor and software-free design that ensure precise, long-term operation in harsh environments. Mercury SSDRs have a proven spaceflight heritage, powering missions such as NASA?s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation science mission that is currently in operation aboard the International Space Station.