Lockheed Martin gets $1 billion contract for operations of SBIRS ground systems

SpaceNews.com ^ | June 5, 2021 | Sandra Erwin —

[BenLurkin]

SBIRS is part of the Defense Department’s missile warning network that detects ballistic missile launches. It includes a combination of two infrared sensors in highly elliptical orbit and five satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit.

Lockheed Martin has been the SBIRS primary contractor since the mid-1990s. The fifth satellite launched May 18. The sixth and final SBIRS is in production and projected to launch in 2022.

The five-year sole-source contract is for operations and maintenance of the SBIRS mission control center at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado, and other operations centers at Peterson Air Force Base and Greeley Air National Guard Station.

The Space Force plans to transition to a new network of missile warning satellites called Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared and a new ground system called Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE). Lockheed Martin is under contract to produce three Next-Gen OPIR geosynchronous satellites, the first of which is projected to launch in 2025.

[rktman]

If it helps keep my pension chk coming.........

[LIConFem]

No doubt a reward for going “woke”.

[cgbg]

Ya gotta wonder when the affirmative action hiring and promotions are going to cause an epic “oops” moment....just a matter of time.

[Alas Babylon!]

Shout out to my old mission, 5DSCS, Woomera AS, Australia!

[KC_for_Freedom]

Yes to that. Its good to see the old girl still kicking. I worked in thd anti missile arm that I guess is still prodicing too. But the plant has lots of changes to assimilate.

[Rappini]

I hope they protect the information from getting into Chicom handes.

[gr8eman]

They chinks probably have the birds hacked before they’re even launched.

[SuperLuminal]

Would feel better if I could be assured that there are no non-citizen Chinese or H1x Pakistanis engineers and IT people as part of the operations system...