SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct.
8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime contractor Lockheed
Martin [NYSE: LMT] and payload provider Northrop Grumman [NYSE:
NOC] have delivered the payload for the fourth Geosynchronous Earth
Orbit (GEO) satellite of the U.S. Air Force's Space Based Infrared
System (SBIRS).
The payload, delivered on Sept.
30, will now be integrated with the SBIRS GEO-4 satellite
bus in final assembly, integration and test at Lockheed Martin's
Sunnyvale, California satellite
manufacturing facility.
The SBIRS program delivers timely, reliable and accurate missile
warning and infrared surveillance information to the President of
the United States, the Secretary
of Defense, combatant commanders, the intelligence community and
other key decision makers. The system enhances global missile
launch detection capability, supports the nation's ballistic
missile defense system, expands the country's technical
intelligence gathering capacity and bolsters situational awareness
for warfighters on the battlefield.
The SBIRS GEO-4 payload includes highly sophisticated scanning
and staring sensors, which will provide the satellite with improved
infrared sensitivity and a reduction in area revisit times over the
legacy constellation. The scanning sensor will provide a wide
area surveillance of missile launches and natural phenomena across
the earth, while the staring sensor will be used to observe smaller
areas of interest with superior sensitivity.
"The completion of this payload is a critical milestone keeping
us on schedule for delivering the SBIRS GEO-4 satellite to the Air
Force in 2016," said Louie Lombardo,
director of Lockheed Martin's SBIRS Follow-on Production (SFP)
program. "This payload delivery -- the third of four payload
deliveries for the SBIRS SFP program in the past 15 months --
further demonstrates that SBIRS is in the regular cadence of full
production."
"This is an unprecedented production rate of sophisticated
infrared payloads for operational deployment," said Anne Ostroff, vice president of the
Military/Civil Space and Ground business area, Northrop Grumman.
"The performance of payloads on-orbit has been excellent and
demonstrates unique capabilities that are needed to address current
and evolving threats."
The SBIRS architecture includes a resilient mix of satellites in
GEO, hosted payloads in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), and ground
hardware and software. The GEO-1 and GEO-2 satellites have been
launched and both received Air Force Space Command Operational
Acceptance in 2013, with performance that matches, and in some
cases exceeds, requirements. GEO-3 recently completed acoustic
testing and is currently undergoing thermal vacuum testing. In
June 2014, the Air Force contracted
Lockheed Martin for full production of GEO-5 and GEO-6.
The SBIRS team is led by the Remote Systems Directorate at the
U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Lockheed Martin is
the SBIRS prime contractor, while Northrop Grumman is the payload
provider. Air Force Space Command operates the SBIRS system.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide.
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace
company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is
principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for
2013 were $45.4 billion.
SOURCE Lockheed Martin