Miles Jamison
Sierra Space, a commercial space company and defense-tech prime contractor, has revealed that its missile warning and tracking satellites have completed the preliminary design review.
The company said Tuesday the satellites are being developed under a $740 million prime contract with the Space Development Agency as part of the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. In particular, the satellites will be included in the Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, a segment of the Department of Defense’s low-Earth orbit constellation.
Sierra Space Contract Details
Sierra Space received the other transaction authority contract for the satellites from the SDA in January. The Louisville, Colorado, company is tasked with designing, producing, delivering, operating and maintaining 16 missile warning and tracking satellites.
Under the contract, Sierra Space will also develop and deploy two satellites with fire control fidelity to be utilized for missile defense, as well as two operational ground segments. It will complete the project at its satellite production facilities in Colorado.
Sierra Space is developing satellites with enhanced capabilities for continuous global detection and tracking of hypersonic missile systems and other missile threats. The satellites will also feature fire control quality sensors that enable missile defense kill chains.
Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, noted that the company’s focus on advancing technologies at a rapid phase matches the developments in National Security Space.
“In response to the evolving threat environment, we are retooling our commercial capacity to focus on revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base through innovative satellite and spacecraft systems technology,” said Vice.
