Project 650014
$1,266.9MFY2027 request NEWEvolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) Space
FY2025 actual$0.0M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$1,266.9M
Product DevelopmentManagement Services
FY2027 Request
$1,838.7M
No FY2026 funding
House approps mark
$1,658.7M
▼ $180.0M vs request
FY2026 Enacted
$0.0M
In law
Roll-up of 2 projects. Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it.
For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Space Force is requesting $1.84B for Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) under RDT&E program element 1206855SF, against nothing enacted in FY2026. In the FY2027 defense authorization, House approps moved to cut it to $1.66B.
Funding trajectory
Funding profile, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP) House approps mark
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 1,838.7 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 1,682.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 1,017.3 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 1,172.5 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 951.9 |
Where it sits
Acquisition lifecycle
This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 5 — System Development & Demonstration.
Complete
Research
BA 1–2
Complete
Advanced Technology
BA 3
Complete
Prototyping
BA 4
Current
Development & Fielding
BA 5–7
Inside the program element
2 projects roll up into PE 1206855SF
Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it. Program elements and projects carry the full five-year plan; activities stop at the budget year.
Project 650015
$571.8MFY2027 request NEWEvolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) GRIFFON & Crypto
FY2025 actual$0.0M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$571.8M
Product DevelopmentManagement Services
Congressional action
The request is contested
Committee marks on the FY2027 request. Adds and cuts are reconciled in conference before they become law.
RequestPresident's Budget
$1,838.7M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$1,838.7M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$1,838.7M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$1,658.7M −$180.0M · −9.8%
▲ $180.0M chamber gap — unresolved as of 2026-07-27. These are FY2027 authorization marks (NDAA); appropriations and the conference agreement may differ.
Who's building it
Where the FY2027 request goes
Performers named in the R-3 exhibit, resolved into industry, government-lab, and unspecified shares. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.
Boeing
$1,088.8M · 59%
Lockheed Martin
$201.0M · 11%
| Where FY2027 funding flows | Share | $M |
|---|---|---|
| Industry primes | 81% | 1,498.3 |
| Government labs & warfare centers | 0.8% | 14.3 |
| Other / unspecified | 18% | 326.1 |
| FY2027 request | 100% | 1,838.7 |
Program detail
Mission & acquisition strategy
This is not a new start. The Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) Program office is developing the next-generation strategic SATCOM (Projects ESS000, 650014, 650015) for Guardians across the Satellite Communications Mission Area. As a result, the Service will improve readiness and operational reach of existing force structure, integrate Allies, partners, and commercial space to USSF units, and deliver resilient infrastructure, equipment, and personnel. ESS is the backbone for Joint All Domain Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3).
GRIFFON is the ground segment solution for ESS, and it includes ESS GIF, SoSI, and Software Application development efforts. The GIF will scope and provide advisory services on the ground system infrastructure to provide a software architecture and support the corresponding software factory. The GIF contractor will provide continual test and delivery services of the DevSecOps pipeline and software from different development and pre-production environments. It will also ensure NC3 compliance. The System Integrator will ensure all ESS segments operate cohesively to deliver interoperable capability.
Project 650014, 650015 — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) Space
- Product Development
- Management Services
Ask Hitch
Ask this program element
Answers are generated from the figures on this page — the FY2027 justification exhibits and the marks tracked above — and nothing else is consulted. Confirm any figure against the cited exhibit before you use it externally.
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Questions this page can answer
How does the FY2027 request compare with FY2026, and what does the five-year plan show?What did House approps do to this request, and what is still unresolved?Which project inside PE 1206855SF is growing fastest, and which is shrinking?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?
This page carries the budget justification and the NDAA marks — nothing else. For what Boeing has actually been obligated, the ledger is at hitchintel.com/vendors; for live solicitations, hitchintel.com/opportunities. Both are member surfaces.
Provenance
Cite this page
Sources
FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 1206855SF (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) (PE 1206855SF)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF
Machine access
Markdown twin
/programs/1206855SF.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.com → budget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marksFY2027 Request
$1,266.9M
No FY2026 funding
FY2026 Enacted
$0.0M
No FY2025 funding
FY2025 Actual
$0.0M
Prior year
Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) Space — one RDT&E project inside PE 1206855SF. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.
Project 650014 — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) Space — requests $1.27B in FY2027, 69% of the $1.84B requested for program element 1206855SF. It is a new start — no prior-year or current-year money.
Funding trajectory
Project 650014 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 1,266.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 986.4 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 746.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 526.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 406.8 |
Inside the project
1 accomplishment / planned program
The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them. Opening lines only here — the full year-by-year narrative is on the project page.
FY2025 actual—
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$1,266.9M
ESS Space segment will complete all final design trades and reviews to complete space contractor Critical Design Review. After completion, ESS will enter Space Assembly Integration & Test (AI&T) and will begin integration activities to include ECUs into SVs and initial configuration testing. Further, ESS will continue SV payload emulator…
Read the FY2027 plan →Who's building it
Named performers on project 650014
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.
Boeing
$1,066.3M · 84%
KBR
$39.8M · 3.1%
BAH
$16.6M · 1.3%
MIT/LL
$9.3M · 0.7%
Project detail
What project 650014 buys
ESS is the backbone for Joint All Domain Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3). The system will replace Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Strategic Satellite Communications (SATCOM) services to provide global, integrated, survivable, resilient, and dynamic ground and satellite communications for assured strategic capabilities across the conflict continuum. The ESS program underwent a resiliency architecture shift to address emerging sophisticated threats and to ensure strategic SATCOM capabilities are available to the National Command Authority (NCA), Combatant Commanders, and joint warfighters in any potential future conflict. ESS will provide the only arctic DoW strategic communication capability across the joint enterprise, and will provide worldwide secure, jam-resistant communications for strategic ground, sea, and air assets. ESS will support existing strategic user terminals in all operational environments. ESS is acquired and developed in several parallel efforts to accelerate delivery of capability to warfighters by the strategic need date in FY 2032. The ESS System includes a Space Segment (ACAT-I), Ground, User, and Integration Segment (ACAT-I equiv), and a Crypto Segment (ACAT-III). The Space Segment is a Major Capability Acquisition (MCA) program in the Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase. The Ground Segment, also known as GRIFFON - Ground Resilient Integration & Framework for Operational NC3, is comprised of the Ground Integration and Framework (GIF), System of Systems Integration (SoSI), and Mission Software Applications. This enables a resilient and modular cybersecure architecture that bridges the gap between modern software practices and legacy user terminal capability. The GIF/SoSI and Mission Planning Software efforts are leveraging the Software Acquisition Pathway Other Transactional Authorities for rapid prototyping of ground software. The ESS Ground Framework creates cybersecure software development, integration, and operational environments utilizing agile Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles and onboards hosted external mission applications and services. SoSI ensures all ESS segments that are acquired in parallel, in addition to external entities, work together to accomplish the mission.
R-3 lines of work
- Product Development
- Management Services
FY2027 Request
$571.8M
No FY2026 funding
FY2026 Enacted
$0.0M
No FY2025 funding
FY2025 Actual
$0.0M
Prior year
Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) GRIFFON & Crypto — one RDT&E project inside PE 1206855SF. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.
Project 650015 — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) GRIFFON & Crypto — requests $571.8M in FY2027, 31% of the $1.84B requested for program element 1206855SF. It is a new start — no prior-year or current-year money.
Funding trajectory
Project 650015 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 571.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 696.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 271.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 646.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 545.1 |
Inside the project
2 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them. Opening lines only here — the full year-by-year narrative is on the project page.
FY2025 actual—
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$519.6M
The GRIFFON program will continue efforts in the Execution Phase of the Software Acquisition Pathway for integration and testing across the entire ESS architecture, to include the Ground software applications, framework, terminals, and test sites. Continue maturation of the ESS ground framework and integration prototype. Complete Systems…
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2025 actual—
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$52.2M
Continue National Security Agency (NSA) cybersecurity certification process and procedures for AVE and GOE ECUs for the ESS Space Segment and ST2. Maintain all required and appropriate Interim Authority to Test (IATT) approval letter(s) from NSA. Deliver AVE and GOE PRAs to Space Segment and MIT- LL to support ST2 development. Begin…
Read the FY2027 plan →Who's building it
Named performers on project 650015
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.
Lockheed Martin
$201.0M · 35%
RTX / Raytheon
$79.7M · 14%
General Dynamics
$25.0M · 4.4%
Boeing
$22.5M · 3.9%
Project detail
What project 650015 buys
ESS is the backbone for Joint All Domain Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3). The system will replace Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Strategic Satellite Communications (SATCOM) services to provide global, integrated, survivable, resilient, and dynamic ground and satellite communications for assured strategic capabilities across the conflict continuum. The ESS program underwent a resiliency architecture shift to address emerging sophisticated threats and to ensure strategic SATCOM capabilities are available to the National Command Authority (NCA), Combatant Commanders, and joint warfighters in any potential future conflict. ESS will provide the only arctic DoW strategic communication capability across the joint enterprise, and will provide worldwide secure, jam-resistant communications for strategic ground, sea, and air assets. ESS will support existing strategic user terminals in all operational environments. ESS is acquired and developed in several parallel efforts to accelerate delivery of capability to warfighters by the strategic need date in FY 2032. The ESS System includes a Space Segment (ACAT-I), Ground, User, and Integration Segment (ACAT-I equiv), and a Crypto Segment (ACAT-III). The Space Segment is a Major Capability Acquisition (MCA) program in the Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase. The Ground Segment, also known as GRIFFON - Ground Resilient Integration & Framework for Operational NC3, is comprised of the Ground Integration and Framework (GIF), System of Systems Integration (SoSI), and Mission Software Applications. This enables a resilient and modular cybersecure architecture that bridges the gap between modern software practices and legacy user terminal capability. The GIF/SoSI and Mission Planning Software efforts are leveraging the Software Acquisition Pathway Other Transactional Authorities for rapid prototyping of ground software. The ESS Ground Framework creates cybersecure software development, integration, and operational environments utilizing agile Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles and onboards hosted external mission applications and services. SoSI ensures all ESS segments that are acquired in parallel, in addition to external entities, work together to accomplish the mission.
R-3 lines of work
- Product Development
- Management Services