Northrop Grumman will build a space inertial reference system for the U.S. Air Force‘s sixth Space Based Infrared System satellite under a subcontract with Lockheed Martin, the SBIRS program’s prime contractor.
The space inertial reference unit will also work to perform sensor stabilization and attitude control functions on the geosynchronous Earth orbit space vehicle, Northrop said Tuesday.
SBIRS satellites work to monitor ballistic missile launches, technical intelligence and battle space.
SIRU systems also feature Northrop’s proprietary hemispherical resonator gyro.