SBIRS Satellite Launched

May 9, 2011

The Air Force and its industry partners successfully launched, GEO-1, the first Space Based Infrared System geosynchronous satellite, into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster carried the Lockheed Martin-built missile warning satellite aloft. “Today, we launched the next generation missile warning capability,” said Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command commander, of the May 7 mission. “It’s taken a lot of hard work by the government-industry team and we couldn’t be more proud. We look forward to this satellite providing superb capabilities for many years to come.” GEO-1 features highly sophisticated scanning and staring sensors designed to provide enhanced early warning of missile launches worldwide as well as ancillary roles like supporting missile defense engagements. GEO-1 will complement legacy Defense Support Program warning satellites on orbit. It joins two SBIRS staring sensors already operating on classified intelligence satellites. Northrop Grumman supplies the SBIRS sensors. (Cape Canaveral release) (Lockheed release)

Related Content

23,000 Airmen and Guardians Unvaccinated as Deadline for Guard and Reserve Passes

Dec. 3, 2021
More than 20,000 Airmen and Guardians across the total force remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, as the deadline for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve passed Dec. 2. Out of more than 500,000 total force members, 95.3 percent are at least partially vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, according to data…

Air Force Looking at Ways to Electrify Airfield Operations

Dec. 3, 2021
The Air Force uses billions of gallons of fuel every year, the vast majority of it dedicated to aviation fuel to power its fleet of aircraft. But as the Defense Department seeks to increase its energy efficiency and secure its power grids, the department’s biggest consumer of fuel is looking…

Space Force Rideshare Launch Will Help Create ‘Freight Train to Space’

Dec. 2, 2021
The Space Test Program (STP)-3 launch scheduled for Dec. 5 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., will prototype new warfighter capabilities, add nuclear launch detection sensors to orbit, and enhance Space Force efforts to improve resiliency in a new “threat-driven paradigm.” In all, 16 payloads from Space Force, NASA,…

US, South Korea Seek to Broaden Alliance, Bolster Indo-Pacific Security

Dec. 2, 2021
As the Pentagon increasingly pivots its focus to strategic competition with China, the U.S. will look to expand its partnership with South Korea to increase security across the entire Indo-Pacific region, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said Dec. 2 during a visit to the northeastern Asian nation.

Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Fund Government Through Feb. 18

Dec. 2, 2021
Congress passed a continuing resolution shortly before 9:30 p.m. Dec. 2 to keep the government funded through Feb. 18, capping a hectic day on Capitol Hill. The deal to keep the government open didn’t come together until the morning of Dec. 2, when House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro…

Biden Administration Outlines Space Priorities at First National Space Council Meeting

Dec. 1, 2021
The White House announced its United States Space Priorities Framework in a document released concurrently with Vice President Kamala Harris' first National Space Council meeting. Listed among five U.S. priorities is to “defend its national security interests from the growing scope and scale of space and counterspace threats.” 

Space Force Plans for Simulators, Adds Advanced Training to Rotations

Dec. 1, 2021
The Space Force has started to carve out new personnel rotations to accommodate advanced training and has turned to units for training ideas while beginning to envision what Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman called an “operational test and training infrastructure,” including new simulators. Like the Defense Department's satellites in orbit,…