American companies L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman have defended the projects of hypersonic weapons detection satellites. Now they can move on to prototype production.
The US missile Launch Early Warning system today mainly consists of SBIRS infrared and optical detection satellites. They are in geostationary orbit and do not know how to identify and track highly maneuverable hypersonic vehicles.
In 2018, the US military announced that new satellites were needed to protect against hypersonic weapons. This is how the HBTSS (Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, a hypersonic and ballistic target detection spacecraft) project appeared. It involves the creation in low Earth orbit of a grouping of many satellites capable of exchanging targeting data with each other.
In January, the US Missile Defense Agency signed contracts for the development of prototypes of new satellites with Northrop Grumman and L3Harris Technologies . Both companies must submit fully assembled satellite prototypes no later than July 2023, after which the military will begin testing them.
Northrop Grumman announced the protection of the satellite project back in November, and L3Harris - on December 20. Now companies can move on to building prototypes, which L3Harris has already done.
In order to observe the launches of hypersonic missiles, the US military is thinking of placing satellites not only in low Earth orbit, but also in medium orbit. They ordered digital models of such devices from Raytheon and Millennium Space Systems.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
