Lockheed Martin’s Space segment continues a streak of increased sales, as the company reported $401 million in net Space sales in Fourth Quarter (Q4) of 2020 a 14% increase over Q4 2019. Lockheed Martin attributed the higher net sales primarily to $245 million for government satellite programs due to higher
Can Biden solve the Space Force’s public relations crisis? Valerie Insinna
Photo credit: Alex Brandon/AP WASHINGTON When leaders gathered at the White House to commemorate the first birthday of the Space Force, it was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, the new military branch stumbled into another public relations quagmire after Vice President Mike Pence announced that members of the service would be called “guardians.” The announcement immediately reverberated through social media, with celebrities and mainstream news outlets mocking what seemed to be yet another instance of the Trump administration pilfering pop culture for a military organization that at least to some has always seemed more like a joke than a serious policy endeavor.
CLARIFICATION/UPDATE:
To reflect that the SDA Tracking Layer satellites will be able to directly tip and queue other OPIR satellites in future; and the resumption of the program.
WASHINGTON: The $4.9 billion contract to produce three Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) missile warning satellites seems to fly in the face of loudly touted Air and Space Force efforts to embrace open standards and cut the number of ground stations, receivers and antennas, experts said.
Instead, the new contract awarded to Lockheed Martin includes bespoke ground systems and sensor processing software raising questions in particular about how the data collected eventually will be shared with the Space Development Agency’s ballistic and hypersonic missile tracking sats.
Nathan Strout
December 2, 2020 Next Gen OPIR is being built to replace the Space-Based Infrared System, the nation’s premier missile warning constellation. The new constellation will be made up of five satellites: three in geosynchronous orbit and two covering the polar regions. The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has selected Lockheed Martin to contribute the former, while Northrop Grumman will provide the latter. The Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $2.4 billion contract modification in May for phase one design and development, procurement of critical flight hardware and risk-reduction efforts leading to critical design review. The two infrared sensors under development for Next Gen OPIR passed their preliminary design review in May. Those sensors are being developed by Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems working with Ball Aerospace.
What Can Coronavirus Teach Us about Satellite Defense in Outer Space
The same protective ideas we deploy against coronavirus are equally effective to counter the proximity threat from dual-use rendezvous and proximity operations in outer space.
In today’s world, everyone is well aware of the commonsensical measures against coronavirus: physical distancing, mask-wearing, and vaccination. Yet another threat that can quickly turn into a war on Earth is emerging. Interestingly, the same protective ideas we deploy against coronavirus are equally effective to counter this proximity threat from dual-use rendezvous and proximity operations (RPOs) in outer space.
China since 2008 and Russia since 2014 have conducted multiple months- or even years-long tests of RPOs in space. Both countries have shown that their RPO spacecraft can maneuver close enough to reach other satellites. Moreover, China, Russia, and the United States have used these spacecraft for close inspections of other satell