SBIRS GEO-6 Sets Stage for Upcoming Next
Generation Resilient Missile Warning Architecture
BUCKLEY
SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo., Aug. 4, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Following a successful launch from Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station in Florida
today, the U.S. Space Force is now communicating with the sixth
Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO)
-6 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
The final satellite in the SBIRS program series, GEO-6 joins the
U.S. Space Force's constellation of missile warning satellites
equipped with powerful scanning and staring infrared surveillance
sensors.
"The need for Overhead Persistent Infrared systems has never
been more critical," said Michael
Corriea, vice president of Lockheed Martin Space's Overhead
Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Mission Area. "At Lockheed Martin, we
are making advancements to keep pace with evolving needs based on
emerging threats in our military customers' environment, helping
pave the way for the future."
The GEO-6 satellite is a stepping stone toward the resilient
missile warning to be provided by SBIRS' successor, the Next
Generation OPIR GEO System (NGG). Like SBIRS GEO-5 and GEO-6, NGG
will be based on Lockheed Martin's modernized LM 2100 Combat Bus™,
which provides additional capabilities such as cyber hardening,
resiliency features, enhanced spacecraft power, and improved
propulsion and electronics.
The SBIRS GEO-6 satellite is responding to the U.S. Space
Force's commands as planned. Signal acquisition was confirmed 3
hours and 43 minutes after the satellite's 6:29 a.m. EDT lift off aboard a United Launch
Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. The satellite is now orbiting under
its own propulsion following separation from the rocket. The
onboard sensors collect data that allow the U.S. military to detect
missile launches, support ballistic missile defense, expand
technical intelligence gathering and bolstering situational
awareness on the battlefield.
A Step Toward More Resiliency
The OPIR mission has
become more critical as ballistic missile technology has
proliferated around the world with over 1,000 missile launches
tracked annually. Lockheed Martin recognizes that modernized
technology is needed to augment the current missile warning
architecture and improve resiliency against attacks.
"SBIRS GEO-6 fortifies the current missile warning architecture,
and it also signifies that we are on our way to achieving even
greater technological capacity and expanded coverage with NGG,"
Corriea said.
Lockheed Martin is proud to be part of the SBIRS team led by
Space Systems Command's Space Sensing Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base. Lockheed Martin
Space, Sunnyvale, California, is
the SBIRS prime contractor, with Northrop Grumman of Azusa, California, as the payload
supplier.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin
Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs
approximately 114,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged
in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest
announcements and news across the corporation, and
follow @LMSpace to learn more about the latest
technologies, missions and people driving the future of space.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin