LEO missile tracking satellite constellation achieves milestone
NewsNovember 16, 2023
REDONDO BEACH, California. Northrop Grumman Corporation completed the critical design review (CDR) for a constellation of 16 missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency's Tranche 1 Tracking Layer (T1TRK), the company announced in a statement.
This milestone, which happened 13 months after the contract award, paves the way for the production of these space vehicles, the company says.
The T1TRK satellites are designed to identify and track hypersonic weapons and advanced missiles from launch to interception, and they will be positioned in two of the four low-Earth orbital planes. These satellites will be interconnected with the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL), forming part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) -- an architecture that aims to create a high-speed, high-capacity data transport network to connect U.S. forces globally, the statement reads.
Fourteen of the T1TRK satellites will be equipped with a wide field-of-view sensor, three optical communications terminals, and a Ka-band payload for communications, and the remaining two satellites will feature a medium field-of-view infrared sensor to demonstrate a fire-control solution, the statement adds.
