spacetoday.net: Space Force picks 14 companies for GEO surveillance program

Posted: Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 10:34 AM ET (1434 GMT)
The Space Force selected 14 companies Wednesday to participate in a $1.8 billion program to monitor activities in geosynchronous orbit. The program known as Andromeda is structured as a $1.8 billion, 10-year contracting vehicle managed by Space Systems Command. It establishes a pool of vendors that will compete for task orders to design and build spacecraft and supporting systems. The selected vendors span a mix of established defense contractors and newer space firms and is an effort by the Space Force to broaden its supplier base, pairing large incumbents with venture-backed entrants that have been pushing into national security missions. Andromeda will initially focus on satellites capable of observing activity in geosynchronous orbit, roughly 22,000 miles above Earth, where many of the military's most valuable communications and missile-warning systems operate.