Raytheon Works With USAF, DARPA on New Space-Based Sensors

Raytheon is helping the U.S. military build a new blanket of sensors, which will be stationed in outer space, for expanded capability to detect missile threats.

The company said Friday it received an offer from Lockheed Martin to design a payload for the U.S. Air Force’s Next-Gen OPIR Block 0 missile-warning satellites, which will replace the Space-Based Infrared System from geostationary orbit.

Raytheon will support Lockheed in the development through system-critical design review. The companies expect to place the new satellites in orbit by 2029.

“Our adversaries are testing new weapons that require a new means of detection,” said Wallis Laughrey, vice president of Raytheon Space Systems. “Our ability to counter the threat is only as good as our ability to see it.”

Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency tapped Raytheon to develop payloads for its Blackjack program, which will demonstrate integrated, small and lightweight space sensors in low Earth orbit.