In this episode of Space Minds, host Mike Gruss talks with Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo about what he calls “almost a watershed year” for the Space Development Agency.
Sandhoo breaks down SDA’s major technical breakthroughs in 2025—ranging from successful hypersonic missile tracking in low Earth orbit to demonstrating space-based Link 16 tactical communications and completing the first-ever optical space-to-air laser link.
The conversation also explores the rapid build-out of SDA’s proliferated constellation, lessons learned from Tranche 0, the upcoming launch cadence for Tranche 1 and Tranche 2, and the agency’s strategy for bringing new capabilities directly to warfighters faster than traditional acquisition approaches allow.
Sandhoo provides insight into SDA’s culture, partnerships, supply chain challenges, and how real-world operational exercises will shape the next phase of space-enabled defense.
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Time Markers
00:00 – Episode introduction
01:05 – Welcome GP
01:36 – SDA as a constructive disruptor
02:22 – Missile tracking breakthroughs
03:11 – Why space-based Link 16 matters
05:38 – Tranche 0 & 1 plane launches and constellation build-out
07:53 – Warfighter feedback and emerging needs
09:46 – Speed, acquisition, and SDA’s approach
12:04 – Acquisition reform and leadership
14:37 – Golden Dome context
16:25 – 2026—what contracts are coming?
17:17 – Emerging tech and HALO
19:32 – Industry partnerships
20:46 – Lessons for other acquisition orgs
22:33 – Supply chain challenges
24:23 – What success looks like in 2026
Transcript – Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo Conversation
This transcript has been edited-for-clarity.
Mike Gruss – Thanks so much. I’m pleased to be joined by GP, and we’re going to get right to it. I wanted to first recognize the Space Force Association for hosting the conference. I’d also like to thank Redwire for producing the great speakers that have been lined up this whole conference for the Guardian Nexus stage. And I’d also let all the Guardians know that Space Force readers can redeem free access to SpaceNews by registering at spacenews.com/guardians.
Mike Gruss – GP, let’s get right into it. SDA is often described as the Space Force’s kind of constructive disrupter. Tell me what you disrupted in 2025. What are the big accomplishments there?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Yeah, thanks, Mike. First of all, thanks for having us. And it’s a great opportunity to kind of talk about things we have been able to get done in this last year. It was almost a watershed year from many perspectives, because a lot of things that we started doing at SDA—when SDA was stood up—were for a specific mission. And there were a lot of technical demonstrations that had to be done, experimentation that had to be done, both in the missile warning/missile track side and also in the communications, what I would call our transport layer, which is the tactical comms side of this.
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – So on the missile warning/missile track side, there was a lot of uncertainty: can we actually move these sensors from where they used to be to this low-Earth-orbit construct? And can you actually, in the LEO environment, be able to track—because you’re going to have Mach 25 missiles, Mach 5, 6, 7, 8—you have this very dynamic background that you move against. Can you actually pick those things up? Can you actually track these systems? So that was one of the things that we did. We won’t go into the details here, but that was performed better than we thought it was going to be. We were able to maintain that track over multiple different backgrounds—land, water, all this stuff. So that was a big deal.
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – But more importantly, SDA’s mission is to sense these threats and inform the tactical users and operational commanders of these threats, which gets into the whole transport layer piece: the tactical communications. How do we actually get the information to the warfighters? And the approach SDA has taken—the architecture that we have—is to meet them where they are, which means the existing legacy radios. No changing of the equipment on the planes, ships, and manpacks. So that comes down to Link 16, a very prevalent radio used by the Joint Force.
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Can we go from space? We brought Link 16 from terrestrial to space. Can we talk to folks in Link 16 from space? So we had multiple exercises where we talked Link 16 from space to air, space to a ship, and people on the ground. We participated in multiple exercises—from the Norwegians to Australia to ships out at sea.
Mike Gruss – Explain the significance of this. Because prior to this… what can’t happen without that?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – What cannot happen without the space layer is that we cannot, in a contested environment, go beyond line of sight. The space layer enables beyond-line-of-sight tactical communication and beyond-line-of-sight targeting of things.
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – So that’s Link 16. It’s not a high-bandwidth system. The high-bandwidth communications are the optical crosslinks. That was another technical thing that had to be done. We demonstrated this last year—space-to-space between our transport and tracking spacecraft—being able to do a laser crosslink, space-to-ground, and then also space-to-air. And that last one, the big win back in August… We had been at it for a long time. Persistence is key in all of this, because success is not final and failure is not fatal. There were a lot of setbacks to cloud our doing. To be able to talk to a flying plane from space with a laser and maintain that track is a pretty big deal. So we were able to demonstrate that this year.
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Those are all the Tranche 0 wins that we had—from experimentation, demonstration, buying down technical risk. And then we also had two launches. In September we launched our first operational plane, Tranche 1 plane, out of Vandenberg. And then October 15, in the middle of the shutdown, we launched our second plane. It was the same rocket that launched the first plane, so that’s pretty fascinating. So we have 42 satellites up on orbit. They’re going through LEOPs checkout. Once they get through that, the vendors—York and Lockheed—will take custody. And we’ll start doing the functional testing. So it’s been a watershed year.
Mike Gruss – And then what comes after that? Once they’re in operation, what should we expect?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – We have to get a minimal number of spacecraft on orbit. We can get some capability with those two planes, but to really start using them in operational demos and exercises with the Joint Force, it takes at least three or four planes. With Tranche 0, we were getting five minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes—a single pass kind of thing. So the next step will be warfighter immersion: how do we actually get warfighters used to these new capabilities from space?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – We have four more launches for transport spacecraft—four more planes coming up—and then the tracking satellites right behind that. We are behind schedule from that perspective, but we are doing the best we can to keep the cadence. We had a plan to be a monthly cadence; it may end up being biweekly or every three weeks. But we have eight more launches for Tranche 1, and then Tranche 2 is right behind it.
Mike Gruss – Let’s talk a little bit about the end user. What are you hearing from them, and how has that influenced where SDA could be headed in the next couple years?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – We’ve been hearing from them since day one. SDA was created before Space Force and Space Command stood up. The way we decide what we are going to build is based on warfighter needs. We have what we call the Warfighter Council—COCOMs, the services, Space Force. That’s where we start. These are emerging needs that we pivot to address.
Mike Gruss – I think every speaker this week has said “speed matters.” How do you know you’re going fast enough?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – The warfighter wants it yesterday. Speed matters. Sometimes we get told we’re going too fast. Our principle is: better is the enemy of good enough. A 60% capability in hand is better than zero if you wait too long. We iterate. Also, once we snap the line on a tranche, we don’t go back and change requirements. New needs go into the next tranche. That’s how we maintain speed.
Mike Gruss – There’s a lot of talk about acquisition reform. What do you see changing?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – When the Secretary spoke, we looked at everything he mentioned—and we’ve literally been doing all of it. Multi-vendor ecosystems, good-enough capability, speed, resilience. I hope the top cover helps rather than disrupts what we’ve built.
Mike Gruss – I want to talk a little about Golden Dome…
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Golden Dome is separate. We’re not part of it. We help where we can. Their challenges are similar but broader—more threats, more coverage. We’ll support as needed, but SDA remains focused on its mission areas.
Mike Gruss – Looking ahead to 2026—what contracts are coming?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – T2 Tracking will be coming out soon. We lost time due to the shutdown. That will be the biggest new solicitation this year, along with execution of Tranche 1 launches and Tranche 2 programs.
Mike Gruss – You have a background in emerging technologies. Where do you see immediate need?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – SDA is an acquisition organization. We rely on commercial partners and government labs for tech development—AFRL, NRL, Lincoln Labs, APL. We monitor what’s coming and run demonstrations through our HALO program. Once a technology proves relevant and meets warfighter needs, we proliferate it.
Mike Gruss – How do you find companies you might not expect to work with?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Engagement. Meetings like this. We have an open BAAs. We read everything. For example, the next HALO program came from a Lincoln Lab waveform that we will now fly on two spacecraft.
Mike Gruss – What can other acquisition organizations learn from SDA?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – It comes down to people and trust—up and down the chain. If you empower competent people and give them backing, you move fast. Committees and endless checks slow everything down.
Mike Gruss – Supply chain challenges?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – Supply chain has been a challenge—OCTs, crypto, micro-electronics. Industry needs consistent demand signals before investing in scale. Tranche 1 alone needs 126 satellites, each with four OCTs. That’s a lot. COVID impacted things, but we’re getting to a place where we can operate at speed.
Mike Gruss – Next year at this conference—what does success look like?
Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo – All of Tranche 1 should be up, functioning, operational. We should have participated in exercises—Indo-PACOM, EUCOM, wherever—bringing new capability from space to the warfighter. And Tranche 2 should be launching and moving through major reviews.
Mike Gruss – That’s all the time we have. Thanks, GP.
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