CesiumAstro announced its selection by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO (HALO) program. This award positions CesiumAstro to compete for future prototype orders in SDA’s mission-critical space development initiatives.
The HALO program, utilizing Other Transaction Authority (OTA), is designed to foster rapid, affordable mission feasibility demonstrations. As a selected vendor, CesiumAstro joins an elite pool of non-traditional defense contractors eligible to bid on specific flight demonstration opportunities, including the Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) and other SDA demonstration projects.
“We are honored to be chosen for the HALO program,” said Trey Pappas, vice president of business development at CesiumAstro. “This selection underscores our commitment to innovation in space technology and our readiness to support SDA’s mission of enhancing national security through advanced space capabilities.”
Key aspects of CesiumAstro’s involvement in the HALO program:
- Eligibility for multiple prototype orders.
- Collaboration opportunities with SDA to enhance security capabilities through direct participation in demonstration projects.
- Networking and teaming opportunities via periodic meetings for all awardees, fostering industry collaboration.
- Support for rapid deployment of advanced multi-beam, multi-user communication systems, including active electronically steered arrays for SDA mission payloads.
“SDA is proud to welcome 19 vendors into the first-ever HALO pool,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear. “This creative award solution enables SDA to quickly compete, build and fly demonstration missions to burn down risk for the future of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. We also hope, through the HALO pool, to build a broader base of vendors that can compete for work on operational layers of future tranches.”
The HALO program is structured as a multiple-step competition, aimed at increasing the pool of performers capable of bidding on future SDA programs and participating in layers of future tranches.