Air Force Begins New Space Tracking System

The United States Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to begin development of a ground based radar to conduct surveillance of space objects. The initial contract is worth about $30 million. The current Air Force system was installed back in the early Sixties.

The need for an upgrade to this capability has become more critical in recent years as the amount of near earth objects, space junk and satellites has increased. This system while primarily used to support missions in space will also provide some aid in missile defense. Identifying and tracking space junk will allow better detection of new objects including possible missile launches. The proliferation of objects has also affected launches and operations in space as the threat of collision to manned vehicles is especially dangerous.

Despite Gates’ Proposed Reforms New Satellites to go Forward

As Federal Computer Week writes the Obama administration has decided to go ahead and begin development of a new spy satellite. In the past these black space programs have been heavily criticized for not only cost and schedule growth but the fact that due to their secret nature that there is no public oversight. Part of the impetus for this system is the recent North Korean missile launch. For monitoring programs like this and the Iranian nuclear one satellites are the most efficient way of doing so. This system will also utilize commercial imagery systems that are available. Of interest an earlier attempt at upgrading the U.S. capability, the Future Imagery Architecture project, was not successful. Perhaps this program will be able to demonstrate that Secretary Gates has been able to reform some aspects of acquisition at the Pentagon.

Harris to Develop Light Weight Communication Satellite System

The US Air Force awarded Harris Corporation a contract to study the development of a light weight (under 400 kilos) communications system that is capable of being deployed aboard satellites. The SunHearald.com website has the press release. The award is part of the Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORSO) programs. There was no value given for the award. Read more

USAF awards satellite support contract

The US Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth over $200 M to support the DSP constellation of satellites. Northrop-Grumman will make sure the satellites are working and provide analysis of the data they collect. The company manufactured the infra-red sensors installed on them. DSP primary mission is to detect the launch of missiles and rockets. They have been used for over thirty years and will eventually be replaced by the SBIRS system.

See the press release at MarketWatch.com.

Solid quarter for Orbital

Orbital reported their third quarter results today. Revenues were up slightly while earnings were down. The company did report strong bookings and their back log is significant at over $2 B. The company saw increased activity in the launch vehicle and advanced space programs. There was a decline in satellites and space services. Orbital provides a variety of space related services to US DoD, Department of Energy and NASA.

See the full press release at MarketWatch.com.

GPS III contract award expected by the 16th

According to this article the Air Force is expected to award the GPS III contract this week following a successful DAB a few weeks ago. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are in the running, and some are inevitably expecting a protest by the loser. Lockheed Martin won most of the GPS II work and Boeing did some of the original satellites. One hopes that the USAF acquisition people have their ducks in a row on this one as there last two major awards have been protested, and one, CSAR-X, successfully.

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