A key missile warning satellite’s sensor payload is a year behind schedule, according to the Space Force’s top acquisition official. Receiving that payload, built by RTX, and integrating it onto the first Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite is a top acquisition priority for the service, Frank Calvelli said during a Feb. 27 speech at the National Security Space Association’s Defense and Intelligence Space Conference. He told C4ISRNET on the sidelines of the conference he’s concerned further delays could push the planned launch date past its 2025 target. “Given that the payload is a year late, yeah, I’m worried,” Calvelli said.
Next-Gen OPIR is the successor to today’s Space-Based Infrared System, which detects and tracks ballistic missiles. It includes three satellites built by Lockheed Martin that will reside in geostationary orbit, about 22,000 miles above Earth, and two Northrop Grumman-built polar satellites destined for a highly elliptical orbit.
Lockheed in 2022 selected RTX, formerly Raytheon, to develop the primary payloads for two of the geosynchronous satellites and chose a Northrop Grumman-Ball Aerospace team to build the third. The Government Accountability Office has issued repeated warnings of potential delays to the program, most recently in a June 2023 report. Calvelli said in his speech the payload needs to be delivered to Lockheed this spring to maintain the launch schedule, at which point the company will integrate it onto the satellite. A spokesperson for RTX deferred comment to Lockheed as the program’s prime contractor. Michael Corriea, Lockheed’s vice president of warning programs, told C4ISRNET in a statement the company expects the re-sequencing to save time while it awaits the payload. “Lockheed Martin is committed to delivering the first Next Gen GEO satellite to meet the Space Force’s planned 2025 launch date,” Corriea said.
