Space may be the final frontier, but the command and control systems for critical missile warning and tracking satellites are still Earthbound. That fact was made clear after Northrop Grumman was recently awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) $244 million contract from the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, on behalf of the Space Systems Command. It will provide the United States Space Force with additional advanced relay ground stations, both in the U.S. and in the UK.
The ground stations will support the Space Force’s Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program, which aligns with the mission to revolutionize U.S. defense systems. This new contract award follows the initial Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A) award that the aerospace firm received in 2022. The stations will employ the same flexible modular design that was previously used with the RGS-A, built in Guam a year after that contract was awarded.
“We are developing advanced relay ground stations that are scalable and upgradeable, and prioritize high performance, reliability and mission flexibility for the Next-Gen OPIR program,” explained Calvin Pennamon, director of operational exploitation systems at Northrop Grumman. “Our ground systems will enhance communications between Space System Command’s legacy and future Space Based Infrared Systems, providing access to multiple constellations enabling warfighters to maintain a decisive edge against enemy threats.”
Next-GEN OPIR will aid in the establishment of satellite constellations that can detect and track missile launches and potential attacks on U.S. territory or its interests around the globe. The stations will be able to adapt to the satellites’ changes in bandwidth and resiliency requirements. According to Northrop Grumman, it will also serve as the “cornerstone” of the U.S. integrated missile warning, tracking, and defense mission architecture, while it will provide persistent battlespace awareness and time-critical missile warning for the United States and its allies.
Forging Ahead
This new contract award is part of Space Systems Command’s Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) program, which calls for a government-owned ground system for missile warning satellite C&C.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) was awarded a prime contract in early 2023 to develop a prototype Missile Track Custody (MTC) system, the service’s first Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) missile tracking system.
The U.S. Space Force continues to expand the capabilities of FORGE and Next-Gen OPIR, and to provide greater integration to the legacy Space-Based Infrared Systems. Space Systems Command has pledged to deliver additional upgrades to the system at least annually.
“We’re going to continue to deliver not in a big-bang software way, but in more of an agile way. It could be a couple times a year or could be once a year,” Col. Rob Davis, program executive officer for space sensing at SSC, told reporters during a roundtable at the annual Air & Space Forces Warfare Symposium in March.
FORGE will also support satellites across multiple orbits, while providing continuous monitoring for potential threats, including missiles. As reported by SpaceNews.com, FORGE is also part of a larger modernization effort that includes investments in ground relay stations in the U.S. and the UK for the Next-Gen OPIR satellite network now under development.
New Jersey-based SciTec was also awarded a $259 million contract this month. The software provider will develop a ground system for the military missile-warning satellites, and it will build an integrated enterprise for both FORGE and non-FORGE systems.
