The US Missile Defense Agency has signed a contract with the US company Northrop Grumman to develop a prototype satellite capable of detecting hypersonic targets. According to C4ISRNET, the transaction amount was $ 155 million. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will have to assemble a prototype of the satellite and conduct its demonstration tests.
Earlier, a similar contract was awarded to the American company L3Harris Technologies. Its cost was $ 122 million. Both companies must submit fully assembled satellite prototypes no later than July 2023, after which the military will begin testing them. Agreements to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit will be signed later.
The development of prototypes of hypersonic weapons detection satellites is being conducted within the framework of the HBTSS (Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, Hypersonic and Ballistic Target Detection spacecraft) tender. Initially, four American companies participated in the HBTSS tender: L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, Leidos and Raytheon.
Details about the promising spacecraft have not yet been disclosed. It is only known that the HBTSS project involves the creation of a grouping of several dozen satellites capable of exchanging target designation data with each other. These devices are planned to be placed in a lower orbit than the ballistic missile launch detection satellites are located today.
Last year, the Space Development Agency, part of the US Space Force, unveiled requirements for reconnaissance satellites that will be responsible for detecting and tracking hypersonic weapons. In October 2020, the agency signed a contract with L3Harris for the development and production of four such devices out of a planned eight.
The development of these satellites is carried out within the framework of the WFOV (Wide Field Of View) project. The devices must be equipped with infrared detection systems. The WFOV satellites will be responsible for the primary detection of hypersonic targets and the transmission of information about them to the HBTSS spacecraft for more accurate recognition and formation of target designation data. The first devices under the WFOV project should be created by September 2022.
Vasily Sychev