Lockheed Martin has announced the US Space Force has determined the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite (SBIRS GEO-5) is complete and ready for launch in 2021.
Built in a record time and at no additional cost to the government for the upgrade, SBIRS GEO-5 is the first military space satellite built on the company’s modernised, modular LM 2100 combat bus.
SBIRS GEO-6, launching in 2022, is also being built on the new bus designed for speed and resilience.
Tom McCormick, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Systems, said: “SBIRS’ role as an ever-present, on-orbit guardian against global ballistic missile threats has never been more critical.
“In 2019 alone, SBIRS detected nearly one thousand missile launches, which is about a two-fold increase in two years.”
“Completing the production of a complex missile-warning satellite during the challenging COVID environment is a huge accomplishment and is a testament to Lockheed Martin’s professionalism and dedication to the security of our Nation,” said Capt. Alec Cook, Space and Missile Systems Center’s SBIRS GEO-5/6 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations lead.
Both SBIRS GEO-5 and GEO-6 are slated to join the U.S. Space Force’s constellation of missile warning satellites, equipped with powerful scanning and staring infrared surveillance sensors, which protect our nation 24-7. These sensors collect data that allow the U.S. military to detect missile launches, support ballistic missile defense, expand technical intelligence gathering and bolster situational awareness on the battlefield.
SBIRS GEO-5 was officially completed on Oct. 29, 2020.
image courtesy of Lockheed Martin
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Lockheed Martin SBIRS GEO-5 US Space Force
Post written by: Matt Brown
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