SMC has broken the contracts into levels of effort: “low-end” contractors, with work around $150,000, will participate in a working group while “high-end” contractors, with up to $10 million of work, will build hardware and execute some demonstrations and testing.

Contractors and their roles are as follows:

• For waveform development: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, Hughes, ViaSat, Orbital, General Dynamics, Space Micro, Lockheed Martin, Hughes, and Arkham Technology Limited.

• For the protected space/ground segment design and demonstration: Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Space Systems Loral.

• For the gateway risk-reduction demonstration: Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

• For the mission planning and management demonstration: Boeing and Hughes.

• For terminal design and demonstration: Raytheon and L-3 Communications.

• For the terminal cryptographic component development and demonstration: ViaSat and L-3 Communications.