The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) initiated the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) programme in 2018 and in January 2021 awarded Other Transaction Agreements to L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman for the creation of prototype systems.
Missile Defense Agency picks 2 vendors for hypersonic weapon tracking sensor prototypes Concept art from Northrop Grumman shows a potential architecture for defending against hypersonic missiles. (Northrop Grumman) WASHINGTON The Missile Defense Agency selected two companies to build prototype sensors capable of tracking hypersonic weapons from space. L3Harris and Northrop Grumman will create the prototypes for the agency’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor. L3Harris won a $122 million award Jan. 14, while Northrop Grumman received a $155 million award Jan. 22. In tandem with the Space Development Agency’s tracking layer, the HBTSS constellation is the Pentagon’s answer to hypersonic weapons, which are too dim to effectively track with current sensors in geostationary orbit and can potentially avoid terrestrial sensors. The constellation will be closer to the planet’s surface in low Earth orbit, allowing sensors to more easily see the dimmer threat.