The Air Force has announced the successful completion of critical design reviews for the sensor payloads that will reside on the next batch of Space Based Infrared Sensor satellites, which are designed to warn of ballistic missile launches. This group encompasses the payloads for the next two geosynchronous satellites in the SBIRS series, GEO-3, and GEO-4, and the payloads dubbed HEO-3 and HEO-4 that will reside on classified intelligence spacecraft. Members of the Air Force’s SBIRS Wing at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., along with officials from Lockheed Martin’s industry team, carried out the reviews. “Payload CDR culminates 21 months of effort replacing obsolete parts and implementing lessons learned from our first two GEO and HEO payloads,” said Col. Scott Larrimore, SBIRS Space Group commander, in the service’s Dec. 29 release. HEO-1 and HEO-2 are already on orbit. GEO-1 is slated for launch in 2011, followed by GEO-2.
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…