CLASSIFIED
CHECKMATE 4
US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer) · York Space Systems / US Space Development Agency
Right now
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Checkmate 4, one of ten satellites launched together April 2, 2023 as the US Space Development Agency's first real test of a genuinely new idea for military space: instead of a handful of billion-dollar satellites, build dozens of cheap, disposable, mesh-networked ones that talk directly to each other via laser. This satellite is one of the satellites that proved a small startup — York Space Systems, not a traditional defense giant — could build and deliver military-grade satellites fast enough to matter for modern warfighting timelines.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 588–594 mi (946–956 km)
- Inclination
- 81.0°
- One orbit
- 103.9 minutes13.9 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 56164
- Int’l designator
- 2023-050C
- Launched
- 2023
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- CHECKMATE 5US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 6US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 7US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- CHECKMATE 8US Military Mesh Communications (SDA Tranche 0 Transport Layer)
- COSMOS 2385Russian Military Store-and-Forward Communications
- COSMOS 2386Russian Military Store-and-Forward Communications