APRIL 28, 2026 – In the modern era of emerging and pacing threats, the ability to clearly see the battlespace is no longer a given. As adversaries develop increasingly sophisticated ways to deny and contest traditional airspace, the U.S. military is looking upward to maintain its tactical advantage.
Enter the U.S. Space Force’s latest push to secure the high ground: the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program.
Spearheaded by the Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting (SBST), this ambitious initiative is designed to provide the Joint Force with persistent vigilance over the battlefield, tracking airborne threats continuously from space.
The mission: persistent vigilance in contested domains
For decades, the military has relied heavily on terrestrial and airborne sensors to track moving targets in the air. However, deploying these traditional sensing aircraft into highly contested environments is becoming increasingly unviable, as those platforms face unprecedented risks.
SB-AMTI directly answers the 2026 National Defense Strategy mandate to ensure the joint force maintains second-to-none operational flexibility and the ability to conduct operations anywhere in the world. While achieving all-domain MTI against all targets still requires a multi-domain capability, SB-AMTI fortifies a layered, connective tissue by leveraging the space vantage point to generate an expansive reach.
Designed as a complex “system-of-systems,” SB-AMTI isn’t just a single satellite. It is a highly integrated architecture encompassing advanced space-based sensors, artificial intelligence-driven resilient ground processing and secure communication links. By leveraging AI to filter clutter and identify targets hidden within massive data streams, the ultimate goal is to provide warfighters with continuous oversight and real-time tracking data, eliminating operational blind spots regardless of what is happening in the airspace below.
“Our mission is to deliver a resilient sensing layer that ensures our joint warfighters maintain a decisive information advantage in the air domain—especially in a denied or contested environment,” USSF Col. Ryan Frazier, PAE for SBST, explained. “We are providing continuous oversight where traditional sensors cannot reach to protect their freedom of maneuver.”
By eliminating blind spots, commanders in every domain can decisively act with total air domain awareness—maximizing outcomes that maintain superiority within their battlespace, without incurring undue risk to their personnel and assets.
The engine: moving at the speed of relevance
Developing a space-based system of this magnitude requires executing the 2026 NDS mandate to supercharge the defense industrial base and clear away outdated policies with a deliberate shift to accelerate defense contracting. In its charge to deliver capabilities into warfighter hands at a speed relevant to the fight ahead of them, the Space Force has fundamentally shifted its acquisition strategy.
In commitment to this same charge, the SBST office launched a comprehensive, multi-vendor strategy with leading innovators from across the national security space industrial base. While the contractual details are complex, the operational impact is simple: it creates a dynamic, high-speed marketplace for advanced SB-AMTI capabilities.
By leveraging this multi-vendor approach, the Space Force isn’t just buying a product; they are building a sustainable industrial ecosystem. It allows the Department of War to rapidly integrate cutting-edge commercial space technologies, software and processing capabilities from a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors. This diverse pool will also include varying levels of size and maturity, opening the aperture as wide as possible to identify and align the best-suited vendors into the ecosystem.
“By utilizing this multi-vendor framework, we are capitalizing on established industry capacity to field these essential capabilities at speed and scale, while also partnering with industry to ensure a strong competitive industrial base well into the future,” Col. Frazier noted.
Looking ahead: a call to industry
SB-AMTI program serves as another clear indicator that the Space Force continues to actively tear down barriers to entry for commercial space innovators.
“Crucially, this acquisition approach serves as the baseline for a broader, sustainable strategy,” Frazier added. “It allows us to foster a competitive industrial environment, preparing a wide array of partners for future capability competitions while delivering advanced, mission-critical solutions to the joint force at the speed of need.”
As the SBST portfolio continues to evolve, the message to the aerospace and tech industries is clear: the Space Force is moving fast, and they are looking for partners ready to help deliver the ultimate high ground advantage.
Space Systems Command Public Affairs