Raytheon Technologies has secured a contract valued at over US$250 million from the US Space Development Agency (SDA) to build a constellation of seven low Earth orbit (LEO) missile-tracking satellites.
The SDA will use the constellation to warn of, track, and target missile threats. It will form part of the SDA’s Tracking Layer Tranche 1, a constellation of infrared-sensing satellites for detecting and tracking ballistic and hypersonic missiles from unfriendly sources. Once deployed, the constellation will be the fifth plane of satellites providing missile warning and tracking for the US Department of Defense (DoD).
As part of the contract Raytheon will manage the design, development and delivery of the seven-satellite constellation which will employ Raytheon’s Wide Field of View overhead persistent infrared sensor. The defence giant will rely on its subsidiaries Blue Canyon Technologies and SEAKR Engineering for Saturn-class microsatellite buses and electronics payloads respectively. Raytheon plans to use common components, its own existing designs and easily available commercial products in a bid to speed up delivery of the constellation. The company will also support the SDA’s launch and ground operations. Dave Broadbent, president of Space & C2 at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, said: “Developing a resilient and affordable proliferated satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit will improve our ability to track emerging threats like hypersonic missiles”.
Artistic vision of the SDA’s low Earth orbit. Courtesy: Raytheon Technologies
