# How the Pentagon Is Buying Satellites Like a Constellations Startup

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833/how-the-pentagon-is-buying-satellites-like-a-constellations-startup
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833/how-the-pentagon-is-buying-satellites-like-a-constellations-startup.md
Podcast: [The Defense Tech Podcast with Fexingo: Government Contracting, Aerospace, and Military Tech](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833)
Published: 2026-07-18T20:16:14+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast/episode-0119.mp3
Audio file: https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast/episode-0119.mp3
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Duration seconds: 391

## Resource

Episode 119 of The Defense Tech Podcast. Lucas and Luna dive into the Pentagon's shift from buying bespoke, one-off satellites to procuring satellites in large constellations, modeled on commercial space approaches. They discuss how the Space Development Agency's Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 programs are buying hundreds of small satellites from vendors like York Space Systems and Lockheed Martin, aiming for proliferated, resilient architectures. Lucas connects this to the recent five-day drop in defense primes like Northrop Grumman (down 3.7%) and L3Harris (down 2.3%), explaining how the new procurement model pressures traditional margins. Luna highlights the challenge for primes adapting to agile, fixed-price contracts. They also touch on the demand for secure, laser-based optical inter-satellite links. A natural donation segment ties the episode's theme of innovation to supporting the ad-free show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. #Pentagon #Satellites #SpaceDevelopmentAgency #SpaceForce #DefenseTech #LockheedMartin #NorthropGrumman #L3Harris #YorkSpaceSystems #Constellations #ProliferatedArchitecture #FixedPriceContracts #OpticalInterSatelliteLinks #Business #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #DefenseInnovation Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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