Missile-warning satellites to be provided to U.S. Space Force
NewsJune 03, 2020
FALLS CHURCH, Va. Northrop Grumman Corporation has won a not-to-exceed $2.37 billion undefinitized contract modification for Phase 1 of the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) Polar program from the United States Space Force (USSF).
The contract modification from the USSF Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) covers the design and development of the first two polar-orbiting space vehicles under the Next-Gen OPIR system. As the Next-Generation Polar (NGP) prime contractor, Northrop Grumman will provide flight hardware, ground system development, and perform critical risk reduction in support of a critical design review.
According to officials, NGP is a critical element of the nation’s strategic missile warning enterprise. Its capabilities are designed to improve support to both strategic and tactical users and better serve the National Command Authority and the warfighter.
The capabilities of the NGP system aim to address emerging threats, and resiliency features are intended to allow the warfighter to operate through contested scenarios should they extend to space. Phase 2 of the contract award, to support production of the 2 NGP Block 0 satellites, is expected to take place in 2025.
