Space Development Agency Orders 8 Satellites To Track Hypersonic Missiles

A batch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites ahead of deployment Image: SpaceX 

C4ISRNet: Space Development Agency orders 8 satellites to track hypersonic weapons 

WASHINGTON —SpaceX and and L3 Harris will contribute satellites to track hypersonic weapons to the Space Development Agency’s planned mega-constellation, with the nascent agency announcing it had selected the two companies to build its first wide field of view satellites Oct. 5. 

Under the contracts, each company will design and develop four satellites equipped with wide field of view (WFOV) overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensors. Operating in low Earth orbit, the sensors will make up the inaugural tranche of the SDA’s tracking layer—the Pentagon’s new effort to track hypersonic weapons from space. 

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 More News On The Space Development Agency Ordering 8 Satellites To Track Hypersonic Missiles

Agency Awards Contracts to Build Out Tracking Layer of National Defense Space Architecture -- US Department of Defense 

L3Harris, SpaceX win Space Development Agency contracts to build missile-warning satellites -- Space News 

SpaceX receives contract to build missile tracking satellites for the Defense Department -- The Verge Musk's SpaceX wins Pentagon award for missile tracking satellites -- Reuters