RDT&E Project · President's Budget PB2027

Experimentation (Space)

Project 64S444·PE 1206458SF — Tech Transition (Space)·U.S. Space Force·BA4
FY2027 Request
$20.5M
▼ 90% vs FY2026
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Project 64S444 — Experimentation (Space) requests $20.5M in FY2027, 8.5% of the $241.1M requested for program element 1206458SF, down 90% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request. Northrop Grumman is the largest named R-3 performer at $4.0M, 19% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

FY2027 Request
$20.5M
▼ 90% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$209.5M
▲ 52% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$138.1M
Prior year
Project detail

What project 64S444 buys

Experimentation (Space), Project 64S444, efforts conduct experimentation and field prototyping of Hybrid Satellite Communications (SATCOM) terminals for Joint operational implementation. In FY 2024 through FY 2028, the Experimentation (Space) efforts will extend Hybrid SATCOM capabilities to an expanded set of Department of War (DoW) platforms, and enable assured communications through both commercial and military satellite constellations in multiple orbital regimes, while accessing multiple frequency bands to maintain resilient connectivity and security. The Hybrid SATCOM terminal effort implements and experimentally flight tests multi-band, multi-constellation, multi-orbit SATCOM terminals at three ground installations and on nine different aircraft types. Specific platforms and platform details are available through proper channels. The Project also demonstrates the ability of Hybrid SATCOM terminals to seamlessly switch between vendors and satellite constellations. The Hybrid SATCOM terminal prototyping will include secure connectivity using National Security Agency-approved approaches, and authority approvals at least to the interim levels needed for experimentation as required for DoW communications.

R-3 lines of work
  • Product Development
  • Support
  • Test and Evaluation
  • Management Services
Funding trajectory

Project 64S444 funding, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.

501001502000138.1FY25ACTUAL209.5FY26ENACTED20.5FY27REQUEST0.0FY280.0FY290.0FY300.0FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual138.1
FY2026Enacted209.5
FY2027Request20.5
FY2028Outyear0.0
FY2029Outyear0.0
FY2030Outyear0.0
FY2031Outyear0.0
Inside the project

1 accomplishment / planned program

The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. Each describes FY2027 work in enough detail to have its own page; the rest are shown here in full. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.

FY2025 actual$138.1M
FY2026 enacted$209.5M
FY2027 request$20.5M

Complete: - Development of customized antennas needed for the most challenging platforms. - Integration and flight test on prioritized aircraft. - Ground and flight tests of various combinations of multi-constellation radios with multi-band antennas. - Inclusion of additional constellation links, integrated into Hybrid SATCOM Terminals…

Read the FY2027 plan →
Who's building it

Named performers on project 64S444

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

Northrop Grumman
$4.0M · 19%
L3Harris
$2.3M · 11%
GTRI
$1.8M · 8.8%
MIT/LL
$1.0M · 4.9%