Defence re-opens JP9102-lite

Defence has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for SPA9102 (Narrowband Satellite Communications). The closing date for the RFI is 11 August and an industry briefing is scheduled for 10 July. Defence says it is looking for a single, sovereign communications satellite.

Satellite Communications (SATCOM) “remains a critical capability for the integrated, focussed force and a key investment under the 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS),” says Defence’s own tender documentation.

It is possible also that SPA9102 is designed to provide Command and Control (C2) and targeting information for the ADF’s new family of long-range missiles, including GMLRS-ER, PrSM, JASSM-ER, LRASM, NSM and JSM and Tomahawk. Defence’s Integrated Investment Program (IIP) includes a Defence Targeting Enterprise; however, Defence has declined to discuss this in detail.

SPA9102 partially replaces the original JP9102, the $6.9 billion Australian Defence Satellite Communications System, which was awarded in 2023 to Lockheed Martin Australia and then cancelled in late-2024. The government said at the time that, given evolving space threats and the general growth in space technology, a single-orbit GEO-based SATCOM system would not meet its strategic priorities; instead, it would pursue a multi-orbit system including Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites

However, only a few days after cancellation of the project Defence announced the launch of the classified Optus-X satellite into GEO orbit under what was reported by The Australian newspaper to be a $405 million contract. Optus is one of Australia’s major telecommunications companies so it’s generally assumed that the Optus-X satellite is a SATCOM satellite.

The aim of JP9102 was to provide a jam and hack-resistant network supporting Tactical data Links (TADILs) and other voice and data communications for ADF operations and targeting. It was intended to provide the ADF with a sovereign military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) system comprising up to four defence-controlled Geo-stationary (GEO) communications satellites, multiple ground stations across Australia, an Integrated Satellite Communications Management system and two new SATCOM operations centres.

By contrast, the SPA9102 RFI, conducted by Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), seeks information only on the narrowband Ultra High Frequency (UHF) SATCOM component of JP9102 to complement Defence’s current understanding of industry capabilities.

Defence’s specific need is for a resilient UHF GEO payload with a capacity of between 20 and 30 25kHz channels and a life of type of about 15 years. It defines ‘resilience’ as “features to protect the communications of a single UHF satellite in geostationary orbit from EMI [electromagnetic interference].”

Interestingly, the RFI doesn’t use the NASA-developed Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale; it asks respondents to assess their systems’ maturity using a Maturity Classification running from 1 – Innovative Development to 5 – In Use.