What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 633834 of PE 1206616SF. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
Continue: - Demonstrate technologies for future proliferated systems through small satellite experiments with a mission focus of designing, building, and testing aimed at increasing the resiliency of space assets, technologies, and missions to emerging threats. - Integrate commercial, allied, and government space networks command and control (C2) of a hybrid space architecture. - Maintain and develop capabilities to support satellite operations at any classification level for a diverse range of space vehicle designs and operation at a variety of orbital regimes. - Satellite operations for 11 planned on-orbit missions including a multi-satellite constellation furthering USSF capability in dynamic space operations. - Develop infrastructure to enable standardization of control interfaces for satellite operations, and to enable cutting-edge Research & Development for defense applications and support of mission partners. - Engage with university partners to design, build, test, and operate satellites to support risk reduction experiments for United States Space Force (USSF) missions and to build an experienced workforce for USSF and defense industrial base employment. - Mission concepting to mature concepts and incorporate systems engineering to ideate on next missions to include, early design, ground experiments, and long-lead equipment purchases for several new flight experiment concepts including demonstrations supporting next generation position, navigation, and timing technology, space-to-terrestrial sensing technology, dynamic space operations, and rendezvous and proximity and docking operations. Commence: - Assembly, Integration and Test (AI&T) for experiments to evaluate capability defending US assets against Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) from adversaries - Expand efforts focused on operating in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) to include satellite operations and specialized component technologies. - Increased satellite operations and mission engineering support in preparation for future nuclear propulsion space flight experiments in novel orbits.
FY2027 increased compared to FY2026 by $3.339 million due to Assembly, Integration and Test (AI&T) activities for currently planned small satellite missions and to expand efforts focused on Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) and operations infrastructure for nuclear propulsion space flight beyond Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO).
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
Continue: - Efforts to demonstrate technologies for future proliferated systems through small satellite experiments. - Design, build, and test of small satellite missions with a focus on capabilities in autonomy, cyber resiliency, and integration of commercial, allied, and government space networks command and control (C2) of a hybrid space architecture. - Engagement with university partners to design, build, test, and operate satellites in support of risk reduction experiments for United States Space Force (USSF) missions and to build an experienced workforce for USSF and defense industrial base employment. Commence: -Early design, ground experiments, and long-lead equipment purchases for several new flight experiment concepts including demonstrations supporting next generation position, navigation, and timing technology, space-to-terrestrial sensing technology, and dynamic space operations and rendezvous and proximity operations. Complete: -Assembly, Integration and Test of the Space Solar Demonstration.
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 30.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 18.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 21.4 |
This activity is 45% of project 633834's FY2027 request and 17% of PE 1206616SF's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
10 activities in project 633834
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.