WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin secured $4.9 billion to construct three missile warning satellites for the U.S. House Power, in accordance with a Jan. 4 announcement.
The corporate already acquired $2.9 billion in 2018 to start work on the satellites, which will likely be a part of the Subsequent Era Overhead Persistent Infrared (Subsequent Gen OPIR) system. That contract coated improvement by means of essential design evaluate, accomplished in October 2020. With that step completed, this system was prepared to maneuver ahead with manufacturing the satellites.
Subsequent Gen OPIR is being constructed to exchange the House-Primarily based Infrared System, the nation’s premier missile warning constellation. The brand new constellation will likely be made up of 5 satellites: three in geosynchronous orbit and two protecting the polar areas. The House and Missile Techniques Heart (SMC) has chosen Lockheed Martin to contribute the previous, whereas Northrop Grumman will present the latter.
The House Power awarded Northrop Grumman a $2.4 billion contract modification in Might for part one design and improvement, procurement of essential flight {hardware} and risk-reduction efforts resulting in essential design evaluate.
The 2 infrared sensors beneath improvement for Subsequent Gen OPIR handed their preliminary design evaluate in Might. These sensors are being developed by Raytheon Applied sciences and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Techniques working with Ball Aerospace.
The U.S. Air Power has labored to shift extra money to the Subsequent Gen OPIR program lately in an effort to make sure the primary satellite tv for pc is delivered in 2025. That’s required extra money up entrance, which the Air Power has shifted to this system by means of a lot of reprogramming requests, a supply of division between competing variations of the annual protection budgets within the Home and Senate. However SMC credited that reprogramming with protecting Subsequent Gen OPIR on observe.
“Whereas this system acceleration to satisfy this risk head on created a near-term funding shortfall, Congress’ help of the DoD’s $161M reprogramming request has saved this system on observe, and I’m assured we are going to shut the remaining shortfall in FY20 to allow supply of our first satellite tv for pc in 2025,” Col. Dennis Bythewood, SMC’s program govt officer for house improvement, stated in October.