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CLASSIFIED

PRAETORIAN SDA_512

US Military Mesh Communications (PWSA Transport Layer) · York Space Systems / US Space Development Agency

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PRAETORIAN SDA-512, one of York Space Systems' Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites for the US Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture — the Pentagon's answer to a fundamental problem: how do you build military space infrastructure that isn't an easy, high-value target? Rather than a handful of expensive satellites, the SDA is deploying over 150 nearly identical, mass-produced Transport Layer spacecraft in low Earth orbit, connected via optical laser inter-satellite links into a resilient global mesh network. This satellite is built to automatically reroute data around any single failed or destroyed satellite in the mesh — resilience baked into the network topology itself rather than depending on any one spacecraft surviving intact.

Its orbit

Orbit
Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
Altitude
581–596 mi (936–959 km)
Inclination
81.5°
One orbit
103.8 minutes13.9 orbits a day
NORAD ID
100070
Int’l designator
2026-163M
Launched
2026

Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.

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