Milestone demonstrates the potential of next-generation
technologies for missile warning
EL
SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 29,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Space Force
Space Systems Command's Wide Field of View Testbed transmitted its
"First Light" mission data-product. Performing the satellite's
mission operations, Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing (NYSE: BA)
company, secured the data beginning October
25.
"Achieving this major milestone is a huge accomplishment, and we
are very excited to enter into the calibration phase of this
program," said Col Heather Bogstie,
senior materiel leader for Resilient Missile Warning, Tracking and
Defense Acquisition Delta, Space Systems Command. "After seeing the
initial images, our team is pleased with how well this sensor is
performing. Soon, we will be able to assess it for operations in
the missile warning architecture against new and emerging
threats."
First Light is the focal plane's first exposure in space and is
a critical step toward demonstrating WFOV's next generation
large-format focal plane technology. The system can simultaneously
stare at and scan an unprecedented 3,000-plus kilometers of the
Earth at any one time.
Calibration is now underway and is scheduled to run through
January 2023. Following calibration,
SSC's Tools, Applications and Processing Laboratory, or Tap Lab, in
Boulder, Colorado will refine
algorithms to exploit WFOV's data, giving decisionmakers greater
awareness over certain regions of the world.
"It's all about the data now," said Jason Kim, chief executive officer, Millennium
Space Systems. "What we learn from this critical testbed will
inform future overhead persistent infrared missions. At the same
time, there are still so many ways in which this data can be
exploited that we don't know about and that we will learn about in
the months and years to come."
Millennium Space Systems was recently awarded a one-year
operations and sustainment contract to continue supporting WFOV.
The contract also includes two additional one-year option
periods.
Sponsored by SSC and managed by the NASA Ames Research Center in
California's Silicon Valley, the
mid-sized geosynchronous spacecraft launched aboard USSF-12
July 1. WFOV reached its final
operational phase in GEO August
31.
Media Contact:
Dana
Carroll, vice president, Marketing
Millennium Space Systems
dana.carroll@millennium-space.com
About Millennium Space
Systems
Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing Company, delivers
high-performing prototype and constellation solutions across
advanced national security and environmental observation missions.
Founded in 2001, the company's small satellite missions support
government, civil and commercial space customers' needs across
orbits.
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SOURCE Millennium Space Systems