Defense Business Brief: The case for more ground stations | Drone dominance | SDA’s reality check?

Rockets and satellites draw the spotlight, sure, but could 2026 be the year the ground stations that command them get a bit more love from defense tech companies and investors?

“We are very locked in on investing in the critical infrastructure that keeps U.S. space- and defense-missions resilient and operational as the space domain becomes more contested,” Mina Faltas, founder and chief investment officer for Washington Harbour Partners, told Defense One. 

The private-equity firm, which plans to expand its space investments this year, recently acquired a ground-station company called Outpost Mission Services. 

Washington Harbour also led a $100 million funding round, alongside Andreessen Horowitz, for Northwood Space, which simultaneously announced a $50 million contract to support the U.S. Space Force’s Satellite Control Network. 

“We've increased our momentum of space investments,” Faltas said. And in the coming months, “you will see several more investments for the space mission, in space-related infrastructure, on the ground and in the air.”

He said it’s part of a shift toward investing in ground systems that make space missions possible. 

Ground systems have often received upgrades more slowly than the satellites they wrangle, including increased compute power. Faltas said ground-based space systems were generally “underappreciated” and a bit of an “Achilles heel,” particularly because there are too few of them. 

“For example, if there's an intercontinental ballistic missile launch, the last thing that you or I want is a corroded wire on the ground in Colorado. Or if there's a conflict, the last thing that we want is the adversary finding a way to cut power or cut broadband into a space ground station, whether it's directly or indirectly,” Faltas said. “Space superiority depends as much on what happens on the ground as what happens in orbit.”

The firm plans to invest in engineering services related to the installation, sustainment, and security of ground stations. Faltas is also keeping an eye on automated command and control, ground stations-as-a-service models, and software that could allow stations to talk to one another. 

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Satellite deliveries off track? Despite reporting early milestone achievements, the Space Development Agency isn’t being realistic about its ability to develop and deliver a new missile tracking system, according to a recent watchdog report publicly released Feb. 2. The Government Accountability Office found the agency “at risk of being unable to deliver capability as quickly as planned” and is “overestimating” how ready technology is for critical elements of the system, which includes ground-based systems and spacecraft that need to be modified. 

The report noted poor communication between SDA and combatant commands, which could lead to the agency developing a system that doesn’t meet military’s needs, and unknown “life-cycle cost to deliver missile warning and tracking capabilities.” 

The remedy: GAO issued several recommendations for the Air Force, including assessing technology readiness, requiring new critical technology elements, and mandating contractors include “cost and software data reporting in awarded contracts.” There’s also a recommendation to create “reliable, data-driven cost estimates and a process for regularly updating these estimates that supports cost-informed decision-making beginning with tranche 3.”

‘Drone Dominance’ kicks off. The Pentagon revealed a list of 25 drone-makers selected to show off their technology at Fort Benning, Ga., starting Feb. 18. The Pentagon’s technology shop seems to have teased the announcement Monday with a cryptic, lo-fi image post on X showcasing an “archipelago in the sky.”

• The competition is the first of four phases, and the Pentagon expects to purchase $150 million worth of tech when the “gauntlet” competition ends in early March, according to the release. 
• The Defense Department aims to spend $1.1 billion across all phases of the program. 
• FYSA: The Drone Dominance initiative, which focuses on smaller systems, is separate from the Replicator program started during the Biden administration. 

More money for ground autonomy. Wheeled-robot startup Overland AI raised $100 million in its latest funding round, led by venture capital firm 8VC, to keep up with Pentagon demand. The Seattle-based company has previously worked with the Army and recently won a $2 million contract to outfit the 1st Cavalry Division. Overland also tested its fully autonomous vehicle in Europe last year and is working with Anduril to sync land and air systems. 

Northrop Grumman’s ISV fleet? The company bought a small fleet of the Army’s infantry squad vehicle or ISV, so that it can develop a smaller, more nimble version of its fire control system, called IBCS.

“We bought three ISVs at the end of last year to incorporate IBCS on them,” Jon Ferko, Northrop Grumman’s head of mission solutions and strategy, told reporters. “IBCS is designed to not only integrate directly with sensors and effectors, but it can directly integrate with more tactical networks and communications” like the Army’s soon-to-be-replaced Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control, or FAAD C2, network. 

Ferko said IBCS is on mobile platforms now, but the goal is to make the system “adaptive” to whatever platform the Army chooses. 

“We want to go to more containerized software…It'll enable us to move faster with our integration of new sensors and effectors. So a lot of it is software driven.” 

Getting technical: The company is also looking at automation so the system can detect the incoming threat and suggest the weapon needed, with soldiers overseeing the process.

“In some cases, when soldiers and warfighters are being overwhelmed by maybe a mix of theater ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, UAVs—[Group] 1 through 3—the system is able to automate and say, ‘hey, all theater ballistic missiles are bad’...and the system will weapons pair.”