Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Millennium, a Boeing subsidiary, a second contract valued at $386 million for the service’s Resilient Missile Warning and Missile Tracking – MEO (MEO MW/MT) effort. Under both the new agreement and one previously given to the firm in 2023, Millennium will deliver a total of 12 space vehicles for the first phase of the program, known as Epoch 1.

“Once on orbit, Epoch 1 satellites will play a vital role in delivering advanced missile warning and tracking capabilities,” Lt. Col. Nathan Terrazone, materiel leader for the Epoch 1 space branch at SSC, said in a statement. “Our commitment is to rapidly deliver operational requirements. Awarding this additional plane lets us do that without skipping a beat.”

The announcement comes after the Space Force discontinued Raytheon’s (RTX) contract for the MEO MW/MT program in June. RTX was originally contracted to build three space vehicles for Epoch 1, but was ultimately dropped from the effort due to significant cost growth, slips in launch schedule and unresolved design challenges experienced by the company, according to SSC.

Millennium initially received a $509.5 million contract in 2023 to build six satellites for the MEO MW/MT program. The six original satellites are on track to deliver by fiscal 2026, and the additional space vehicles are expected to deliver in early fiscal 2028, according to SSC. Once launched, the 12 birds will be split evenly across two orbital planes, a press release noted.

Part of the Space Force’s plan to build a resilient architecture of missile warning and tracking satellites across multiple orbits, the MEO MW/MT constellation is intended to track a range of high-speed missile threats.

Much like the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture in low-Earth orbit, the constellation will be launched in successive phases — or “epochs” — every two-to-three years in order to incrementally build operational capabilities.

The Epoch 1 space vehicles will serve as the constellation’s baseline architecture, while its follow-on Epoch 2 will deliver initial warfighting capability in early fiscal 2029, according to SSC. The service released a request for proposal for Epoch 2 in August, seeking up to 18 satellites that will “provide the nation with expanded global tracking capability to counter hypersonic and other advanced missile threats,” an SSC press release stated.

The post Space Force taps Millennium for 6 additional missile warning, tracking satellites appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Space Systems Command (SSC) dropped Raytheon from the Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking — MEO (MEO MW/MT) program in May due to significant cost growth, slips in launch schedule and unresolved design challenges experienced by the company. Raytheon was originally contracted in 2021 to build three space vehicles for the missile-warning constellation’s first batch of satellites, known as Epoch 1.

As SSC prepares to launch the remaining Epoch 1 systems and receives proposals for the subsequent Epoch 2 space vehicles, officials are exploring how to make up for the capability lost by dropping Raytheon from the contract, Col. Rob Davis, PEO for the command’s space sensing directorate, said Wednesday during a media roundtable at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber conference.

“We have plans to go ahead and make sure we don’t have a loss of capability in Epoch 1. We expect to have equivalent capabilities in the requirements being satisfied with Epoch 1,” Davis said. “Flowing into Epoch 2, that [request for proposals] is on the street. We’re tracking that, eagerly waiting to get those back and seeing where that takes us to finish out the initial warfighting capability of that constellation.”

The MEO MW/MT constellation is being developed to track high-speed missiles from medium-Earth orbit (MEO) as part of the Space Force’s plans to build a resilient architecture of missile warning and missile-tracking satellites across multiple orbits.

SSC is leveraging a spiral development model for the program by developing and fielding the systems in “epochs” that each deliver incremental capability — similar to the strategy used by the Space Development Agency for its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The intent is to have the MEO MW/MT constellation work with the PWSA birds in low-Earth orbit and other satellites in higher orbits to track advanced missile threats from space.

Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems was also contracted in 2021 to build six satellites for the constellation. Later in 2023, L3Harris received an award to complete sensor payload design for Epoch 1. SSC expects to launch the six Epoch 1 vehicles — which will provide initial missile-warning capability — by 2027.

Bob Fitzpatrick, vice president of requirements and capabilities at Raytheon, told DefenseScoop that moving forward, the company is able to carry the development work it did on Epoch 1 into its proposal for future phases of the MEO MW/MT program.

“We actually worked hand in hand with [SSC] to really develop a good point to kind of bring it to closure, because we saw how much it was going to do for our business but equally for what they wanted to do,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday on the sidelines of the AFA conference. “It actually turned out to be very positive for both of us, and we are now looking at leveraging that technology for the Epoch 2 series.”

In August, SSC released a request for prototype proposals for development and procurement of up to 18 space vehicles for Epoch 2. The satellites will build upon the Epoch 1 birds and be able to track advanced hypersonic and ballistic missile threats, according to the solicitation.

Davis noted that the Epoch 2 platforms will carry “in-plane, vendor-specific crosslinks,” meaning the space vehicles will only be able to share data and communicate with those made by the same company located in MEO. Once the contracts are awarded, it’s possible SSC will look into an additional crosslink to advance the technology.

“From a tech maturation [standpoint], we’re really looking to Epoch 3 to have that technology ready to support where we really want to get to — that point where we’re meshing between vendors,” Davis said.

The post Space Force mitigating potential capability loss for MEO missile-tracking program after RTX’s exit appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Space Systems Command notified Raytheon of the discontinuation in May and held a design closure event earlier this month, an SSC spokesperson said in an email. The service decided to drop the company from the program “because the RTX Epoch 1 development effort was facing significant cost growth from the original agreement baseline, projecting slips to the launch schedule, and had unresolved design challenges,” they added.

Raytheon received an other transaction agreement in 2021 to design digital models of three space vehicles for Epoch 1 of the MEO MW/MT program. The planned constellation is intended to track high-speed missiles from medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and is part of the Space Force’s plan to build a resilient architecture of missile-warning satellites in multiple orbits. 

Similar to the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the MEO MW/MT satellites are being developed in phases — referred to as “epochs” — that are designed to deliver the latest capabilities in increments. Raytheon is also contracted with SDA to build satellites for Tranche 1 of the PWSA’s missile tracking layer, which will be launched into low-Earth orbit.

“RTX remains committed to supporting the U.S. Space Force now and in the future,” a company spokesperson said in a statement when asked to comment on RTX’s discontinuation from the Epoch 1 effort.

Boeing-subsidiary Millennium Space Systems received a contract at the same time as Raytheon in 2021, to design six satellites for the constellation. In June 2023, L3Harris became the third vendor for Epoch 1 when the Space Force awarded it a one-year contract for sensor payload design.

The service announced in November that the six satellites from Millennium passed space system critical design review, and the SSC spokesperson noted the company also achieved CDR for its ground segments in March. In addition, L3Harris completed critical design review for its infrared sensor payload designed for Epoch 1 in May, according to the company.

The SSC spokesperson noted that the decision to remove Raytheon from the program has not impacted the other vendors nor the program’s schedule to launch the satellites sometime in 2026 or 2027.

To replace the three scrapped space vehicles, the Space Force now plans to either build additional space vehicles from another vendor contracted for Epoch 1 or through its upcoming competition for Epoch 2, the next iteration of the MEO MW/MT constellation.

A request for proposal for Epoch 2 of MEO MW/MT is expected to be released in July, according to the spokesperson.

“We are still on path to deliver to our Epoch 1 goals to provide an initial missile tracking capability, prototype several key technologies, and refine operational concepts in MEO,” they said. “The MEO program has done an outstanding job of creating a sustained competitive environment, allowing us to execute this action without compromising our ability to meet the requirement to provide a resilient missile warning and tracking capability for the nation.”

News of the service dropping a vendor emerged in the detailed funding tables of House appropriators’ fiscal 2025 defense spending bill, first published by Politico on Monday. Lawmakers proposed a $75 million decrease in funds allocated due to “MEO vendor termination,” as well as an additional $10 million drop for “Epoch 2 ops and integration early to need” and another $10 million cut for “management services excess to need,” the documents show.

In total, House appropriators allocated $750 million in research and development dollars for the MEO MW/MT program. The Space Force had originally asked for $846 million in its budget request for fiscal 2025.

Along with the MEO MW/MT program cuts, House appropriators’ proposal would pare down the Space Force’s fiscal 2025 budget to $28.7 billion — around $900 million less than what the service requested in March, and about 5 percent less than what the Space Force was allocated in fiscal 2024.

The House defense appropriations bill must be reconciled with the Senate version during conference before becoming law, so it remains to be seen how much funding will ultimately be approved by Congress.

The post Space Force drops Raytheon from MEO missile-warning satellite effort appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The agency awarded the Boeing subsidiary an other transaction authority contract worth up to $414 million to build and deliver the platforms, which will be part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture’s (PWSA) Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program. The constellation is slated to be launched into orbit during the first quarter of fiscal 2027.

The satellites will be different from other vehicles in the PWSA’s tracking layer, in that they will be equipped with fire control-quality sensors to address advanced missile threats such as hypersonic weapons.

“The FOO Fighter program will provide an operational demonstration of fire control efforts separate from, but complementary to, our missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense efforts already underway in the tranches,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Millennium, a new teammate in the expanding marketplace of performers innovating to deliver the PWSA for the warfighter.”

Fire control systems are able to create high-fidelity tracking data of incoming threats that includes the exact position and time accuracy needed for a missile defense system to send an interceptor to defeat targets. Incorporating fire control-capable sensors is part of the Space Force’s larger plan to deploy a robust, multi-orbit missile defense architecture in space.

FOO Fighter will be include experimental and demonstration satellites that are independent from the PWSA tracking layer — part of a planned constellation of hundreds of platforms stationed in low-Earth orbit. Tournear has previously indicated that FOO Fighter will address very specific targets not addressed by the PWSA.

Although the initial request for proposals for the vehicles suggested that SDA was open to contracting with more than one vendor for FOO Fighter, Millennium Space Systems will build and deliver all eight satellites. The company will also provide the supporting ground system and perform mission operations, according to a press release from the contractor. 

“Our deep knowledge and understanding of this mission enabled us to engineer the right solution at the right cost, taking advantage of our common sensing vehicle and core components,” CEO Jason Kim said in a statement. “The mission engineering we’ve done is grounded in modeling and simulation exercises, allowing us to understand the payload and its applicability to mission execution.”

The post SDA taps Millennium Space Systems to build experimental FOO Fighter satellites appeared first on DefenseScoop.